Meta teams up with Bret Taylor’s Sierra Technologies on new standards for AI agent commerce

Meta Platforms Inc., Walmart Inc., Stripe Inc., and Sierra Technologies Inc. have joined forces to establish new standards for AI agents to interact with businesses online. The initiative is led by Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. and co-founder of Sierra Technologies, who aims to address the challenges of authentication, consumer empowerment, and company visibility for AI agents.

Taylor has open-sourced the standard, encouraging widespread implementation. The Personal Agent Protocol is being developed to tackle concerns over safety, privacy, and potential financial scams that could arise from AI agents accessing personal funds and information. Meta's Superintelligence Labs vice president of engineering and consumer products, David Singleton, stated that the standard aims to provide a consistent framework for personal and business agents, similar to how email operates.

The bank-backed call for clarity on AI agents has prompted Meta and Sierra to develop the new standard, which they believe will enhance consumer trust and facilitate the adoption of commerce agents. Meta's Muse AI agent, launched last month, has already faced criticism for privacy and security issues, including multiple vulnerabilities that required urgent fixes and a ban from Amazon's online platform due to the inability to identify itself.