Recently, I've been pondering the matter of artificial intelligence. Nowadays, when people mention AI, they immediately think of chatbots that can chat with you, write emails, and so on. But to be honest, these are still in the realm of tools. You ask a question, and it answers. What really makes me feel that a change is coming is that AI can start making decisions on its own, even spending your money to get things done without needing your approval at every step.
Sounds a bit sci-fi, right? But it's really happening. For example, if you let AI help you book a flight, it can compare prices and choose flights without any problem, but when it comes to the payment stage, you basically have to jump to the payment page for personal confirmation. This step completely breaks the illusion of autonomy. And completely delegating power, who isn't afraid of it going haywire? What if it buys you a hundred boxes of cola in the middle of the night?
So when I noticed Kite AI, I found their entry point quite interesting. They are not competing to create smarter chat models but have built a foundational infrastructure specifically for AI agents. In simple terms, they want AI to act like a real entity in economic activities—having an identity, following rules, and being accountable.
Kite's core is a Layer 1 blockchain specifically optimized for interactions between machines. It does not chase hot speculative trends but focuses on providing each AI agent with a cryptographically verifiable identity—called Agent Passport. This passport defines the agent's permissions, spending limits, and behavioral rules. For example, you can set a travel agent to only make purchases at designated merchants, not exceeding a certain amount, and requiring multiple price comparisons before payment. These rules are enforced cryptographically at the protocol level, and every action has an immutable record.
Why is this important? When AI has issues now, we can only go back and check logs and argue afterwards. But Kite has brought this responsibility mechanism forward; all operations are traceable on-chain, carrying constraints from the source. This way, we can afford to let AI handle tasks with a little more confidence.
On the payment side, Kite uses stablecoins for small real-time settlements, with transaction fees almost zero. It sounds technical, but think about the future: AI agents may generate thousands of transactions every second, and if each one has delays and fees like current bank cards, it simply won't work.
Kite has gained industry recognition. In September 2025, it completed a $18 million Series A financing, led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst, with total funding reaching $33 million. Then in October, Coinbase Ventures made additional investments. These major institutions do not invest randomly; they are optimistic about the agency economy—AI agents will become independent economic participants, and Kite is laying the foundational tracks.
Now Kite's system can already connect to platforms like Shopify and PayPal. Imagine, in the future, your AI assistant can browse online stores, compare prices, and place orders without you having to worry about it.
Of course, there are still many hurdles to overcome: how will regulation keep up? Where are the ethical boundaries? Will AI misunderstand our intentions?
But I believe the concept represented by Kite is correct; rather than blindly pursuing how intelligent AI can be, it is better to first establish a stage for it to act safely. By the end of 2025, AI planning and coordination capabilities will have matured, and projects like Kite are providing a moderate path that balances autonomy and control. In the future, will autonomous agents seamlessly manage our lives? Perhaps not perfectly, but with programmable governance and on-chain accountability, they will be more reliable and trustworthy. Kite is an early explorer in this direction and is attracting increasing attention.
