Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)

Google's open protocol from 2025 that uses signed mandates to prove what a user authorized an AI agent to buy and pay for.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

The Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is an open protocol Google introduced in 2025 for payments initiated by AI agents. It uses cryptographically signed mandates to prove what a user authorized an agent to buy and pay for. AP2 aims to give merchants, payment providers, and users accountability and trust when agents transact autonomously.