Circle Internet Financial has introduced an AI-driven USDC payment system, enabling autonomous, secure machine-to-machine transactions for seamless API access and real-time blockchain settlements. The system integrates with a new payment protocol called x402, which enables websites or APIs to ask for money before granting access to their data or service. This allows AI agents to pay a small USDC amount, such as processing fees or data charges, before receiving a response from an online service. This setup saves time and eliminates human involvement, allowing developers to create new ways to make money from APIs and data services. The system is also used for complex use cases, such as travel bookings, where AI agents can track flight prices, hotel availability, and loyalty rewards, book tickets, and pay the airline through USDC. Circle’s Secure MPC Wallets enable apps to create and manage crypto wallets securely, relying on Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and ensuring no exposure of private keys. The payment request is handled by the x402 protocol, which checks and settles the transaction on-chain before releasing the API to return the requested data. The combination of Circle Wallets and x402 allows automated, secure payments by AI agents, opening up the future where intelligent machines can purchase services, pay per use, and complete financial tasks on behalf of users. Developers can monetize APIs with accurate pricing, even at a price of less than one cent per API.