And today @OpenAI and @Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), taking the simplest approach yet: JSON-based agent-merchant interactions that handle checkout flows while leaving payment processing to existing providers. The protocol is very retail commerce-specific: No HTTP payment codes, cryptographic mandates, focus on content or microtransactions, etc. ACP is a set of REST APIs returning structured checkout data so agents have a standard way to complete purchases using merchants' existing payment systems. Payment happens through Stripe's SharedPaymentToken system (theoretically open to other providers). This is a pragmatic and useful step for retail e-commerce for chatbots and agents, if trust already exists in the payment layer. It is less useful for truly semi-autonomous agent transactions, which require identity verification, policy enforcement, and audit trails independent of any single platform—but that clearly isn't ACP's focus. This is a useful new piece of the puzzle.