The x402 protocol, as a major narrative in AI Agent payments, has become a highly sought-after commodity.
While everyone is still researching AI Agents that can automatically swipe cards to purchase API services, OpenMind has already planned to enable embodied robots equipped with NVIDIA Jetson Thor chips to complete real-time payments via the x402 protocol while navigating autonomously in the real world.
Why is this matter worth paying attention to?
OpenMind, a leading project in the robotics field, has secured over $20 million in investment from Pantera Capital, Coinbase Venture, Amber Group, and others. It focuses on building decentralized intelligent infrastructure for robots.
It should be noted that its BrainPack system is powered by an NVIDIA Jetson Thor chip, providing humanoid and quadruped robots with next-generation autonomy, enabling them to navigate, recognize scenes, and handle complex tasks in real urban environments.
This in-depth collaboration between OpenMind and Circle aims to...
The goal is simple: to enable robots to complete hundreds or thousands of instant, reliable, cross-chain payments per second while performing physical tasks.
Looking at their GitHub design, they have indeed made some improvements and adjustments to the x402 protocol: for example, they have strengthened the payment security mechanism to prevent the robot from encountering payment fraud when performing tasks and ensure that fund confirmation is completed within 2 seconds; at the same time, they have launched a batch processing solution, which uses Gateway off-chain technology to enable the robot to perform millions of micro-payments without waiting for blockchain confirmation each time, and finally settle them in a unified manner.
Of course, before the virtual AI agent application x402 becomes widely available, imagine that robots in the real world already possess such convenient payment capabilities:
A delivery robot performs tasks on the street, purchasing map navigation APIs, weather data, and traffic information services in real time; an inspection robot autonomously pays for cloud computing power to process visual recognition; multiple robots automatically settle collaborative service fees via the x402 protocol...
Compared to the technical difficulty of virtual AI agent payments, this undoubtedly adds another level of challenge. While payments between virtual agents can tolerate some delays, robots performing physical tasks must be "instant, reliable, and high-frequency".
The key point is:
OpenMind's exploration of the x402 payment protocol was publicly mentioned by Circle's CEO. This also carries a degree of support from Nvidia, and their partner, Unitree Robotics, is preparing for its IPO at the end of the year. We'll then have a clearer understanding of the value the x402 payment protocol will bring to the robotics field.
