Visa recently released an open-source tool called CLI (Command Line Interface), designed to support developers building large language models and AI architectures. This tool enables AI agents to autonomously control their blockchain wallets and conduct financial transactions. The tool allows AI agents to pay for services such as API keys, cloud computing resources, or datasets using stablecoins like USDC or other digital assets, thereby completing payments automatically after identifying a need, without human intervention, ensuring business process continuity.
The core of this innovative model lies in leveraging Account Abstraction and smart contract technology to build a programmable wallet infrastructure for AI bots on the blockchain network. Account Abstraction allows wallets to process transactions based on preset rules, rather than requiring private key signatures for every expenditure. This makes automated, rule-based payments possible, overcoming the limitations of traditional wallet structures.
To balance automation and security, Visa has integrated a policy engine into the CLI. Users can preset spending limits, specify authorized merchants (whitelist mechanism), and set expiration dates for the AI's available budget. AI agents can only operate independently within these predefined frameworks, achieving a balance between automation and control.
Visa chose to offer a CLI rather than an API, considering that the creation, testing, and deployment environments for AI agents are typically terminal-based. A CLI can naturally integrate into developers' workflows and avoids the additional abstraction layer introduced by APIs, aiming to accelerate the integration and adoption of AI systems.
Visa further solidified its strategic positioning in this domain by announcing a partnership with Sky (formerly MakerDAO) on March 14th, planning to integrate the USDS stablecoin into a new payment framework. This collaboration directly links Visa's technological infrastructure with a widely circulated on-chain stablecoin, strengthening its ecosystem for supporting autonomous AI spending.
Currently, the demand for AI agents to purchase digital resources such as data, computing power, and APIs is growing. Previously, these transactions primarily relied on traditional credit cards linked to developer accounts, requiring manual intervention. Visa's new CLI tool aims to automate this process at scale, reduce manual touchpoints, and promote seamless machine-to-machine (M2M) commercial transactions.
While the scale of the autonomous AI payment market remains to be seen, Visa's continued technological investment signals its commitment to supporting and potentially capturing a significant share of this emerging infrastructure layer.