PayPal Ventures backs Kite AI with $18M to power AI agents
Kite AI, a decentralized AI infrastructure provider, secured $18 million in a Series A funding round led by PayPal Ventures, bringing its total funding to $33 million. Other investors include notable firms such as 8VC, Samsung Next, and Vertex Ventures. Kite aims to create a new class of AI agents within the Web3 ecosystem—autonomous software that can interact without human oversight. Their AIR system enables these agents to transact independently using programmable identities and native stablecoin payments. The system includes an Agent Passport for identity verification and an Agent App Store for services and tools. Kite co-founder Chi Zhang highlighted the potential for autonomous agents to dominate in the future, amid growing interest in AI's capacity to handle crypto transactions. As AI agents gain traction, infrastructure developments are essential for their integration into complex systems. Notably, Clanker, an AI application that automatically generates memecoins, is already gaining popularity in the Web3 landscape. The demand for AI agents suggests a significant shift towards automated interactions in blockchain environments.
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