Pay-per-inference for AI agents: How BlockRun and Incarna use Amazon Bedrock AgentCore payments
Amazon Bedrock AgentCore payments lets AI agents autonomously pay for per-inference API calls using crypto rails
“AgentCore payments enforces limits outside the model, so an agent can't exceed them even if its prompt is manipulated.”
AWS launched AgentCore payments, enabling AI agents to autonomously purchase per-inference API calls using the x402 payment protocol and USDC stablecoin settlements on Base, with spending limits enforced at the infrastructure layer rather than relying on the model. Incarna used it to connect to BlockRun's 90-model inference router, cutting integration time from months to days. This marks a concrete step toward agentic commerce—autonomous agents transacting at high frequency without human approval loops.