What Is the Agentic Web and Why Is It Emerging?

TL;DR

The internet is evolving into a dual-layered system where autonomous agents interact alongside humans. Major companies like Coinbase, Stripe, and Cloudflare are developing infrastructure to support agents, enabling them to transact, access content, and execute tasks independently. This shift raises questions about security, trust, and the future of online commerce.

Transcript

The most interesting thing about OpenClaw is not the agent, it's the web. The web is forking in the age of agents, and nobody's talking about it enough. Last Tuesday, three things happened within hours of each other. Coinbase launched Agentic Wallets, which are crypto wallets designed not for people, but for agents. Cloudflare shipped Markdown for ... Read More

Key Insights

• The agentic web is a parallel internet layer where autonomous agents transact and interact.
• Coinbase's Agentic Wallets enable agents to perform crypto transactions autonomously.
• Stripe's new fraud detection system adapts to agent behavior, not human shopping patterns.
• Cloudflare's Markdown for agents allows AI systems to access web content efficiently.
• Exa.ai is creating search engines tailored for agents, not humans, to optimize data retrieval.
• OpenAI's skills and shell tools allow agents to execute tasks like human freelancers.
• Security measures treat agents as potential adversaries, emphasizing containment.
• The emergence of the agentic web parallels the mobile web's evolution, requiring new standards.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the agentic web?

The agentic web is a parallel internet layer designed for autonomous agents to interact, transact, and execute tasks independently. Unlike the traditional human web, it utilizes structured data, tokenized payments, and machine-readable content, enabling agents to operate without human intervention. This shift requires new infrastructure and standards to accommodate agent-specific needs.

Q: How do Coinbase's Agentic Wallets work?

Coinbase's Agentic Wallets are designed for autonomous agents to perform crypto transactions. They use the X42 protocol, allowing agents to execute over 50 million machine-to-machine transactions. The wallets feature programmable spending limits and gasless trading, and they use non-custodial architecture to secure keys, enabling agents to act as economic entities independently.

Q: Why did Stripe rebuild its fraud detection system?

Stripe rebuilt its fraud detection system to accommodate agent behavior, which differs from human shopping patterns. Traditional fraud detection relied on signals like mouse movement and browsing time, which are irrelevant for agents. The new system uses shared payment tokens and is designed to detect fraud in transactions initiated by software, not humans.

Q: What is Cloudflare's Markdown for agents?

Cloudflare's Markdown for agents is a feature that converts web pages into agent-readable markdown format. When an AI system requests a page, Cloudflare intercepts the request, converts the HTML to markdown, and serves it back. This allows agents to access content efficiently without the need for scraping or conversion libraries, optimizing their interaction with the web.

Q: How does Exa.ai's search engine differ from traditional search engines?

Exa.ai's search engine is built specifically for agents, not humans. It returns raw URLs and content instead of search engine result pages, enabling agents to programmatically find and act on specific information. This design optimizes data retrieval for agents, offering a structural advantage over traditional search engines like Google's, which are designed for human users.

Q: What are OpenAI's skills and shell tools?

OpenAI's skills are reusable instruction bundles that agents can load to perform specific tasks, similar to standard operating procedures. The shell tool provides agents with a real terminal environment to install dependencies, run scripts, and write files. These tools enable agents to execute tasks like human freelancers, facilitating complex workflows and enhancing their capabilities.

Q: What security measures are in place for the agentic web?

Security measures for the agentic web treat agents as potential adversaries. Approaches like Ironclaw sandbox tools in isolated environments, OpenAI's shell tool uses network allow lists and container isolation, and Coinbase's wallets employ enclave isolation for private keys. These measures aim to contain potential threats and secure agent operations, emphasizing the need for robust security in autonomous environments.

Q: How does the agentic web compare to the mobile web evolution?

The agentic web's emergence parallels the mobile web's evolution, where new standards and infrastructure were developed to accommodate mobile devices. Similarly, the agentic web requires structured data, tokenized payments, and machine-readable content to support autonomous agents. Companies building this infrastructure, like Coinbase and Stripe, are setting the stage for a new era of internet interaction, driven by agent capabilities.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The agentic web represents a new internet layer where autonomous agents act as economic entities. Companies like Coinbase, Stripe, and Cloudflare are building infrastructure to support this shift, enabling agents to transact and access content independently. This evolution mirrors the mobile web's rise, necessitating new standards and security measures.

• Coinbase's Agentic Wallets and Stripe's fraud detection systems are key developments in enabling agents to transact autonomously. Cloudflare's Markdown for agents allows efficient content access, while Exa.ai's agent-native search engines optimize data retrieval. OpenAI's tools facilitate agent execution, highlighting the agentic web's growing capabilities.

• Security concerns arise as agents gain autonomy, with measures treating them as potential threats. The agentic web's evolution parallels the mobile web's, requiring new standards and trust-building efforts. This shift could redefine online commerce, with agents becoming as ubiquitous as human users in the future.