The internet’s business model was built around people: attention, ads, subscriptions and checkout. AI agents are changing that. They can retrieve and use content without sending a human reader back to the publisher. That raises a real question for creators, publishers and developers: how can they get paid when an agent uses their work, sometimes for a fraction of a cent? Our new Coinbase Institute @CoinbaseCBI paper, "Machine-to-machine payments in the AiFi era," examines why existing payment rails often struggle with high-velocity microtransactions—and why stablecoins on low-cost networks are a strong fit today. The policy goal should be an open, interoperable payment layer, with safeguards that match the risks—not closed marketplaces that decide who can participate.