Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard plan a new standard for payments made via AI agents, citing McKinsey's projection of $3T to $5T in commerce by 2030 (Evelyn Cheng/CNBC)

Ant International, Visa, and Mastercard are collaborating on a new payment standard that enables transactions through AI agents, referencing McKinsey’s forecast of $3 trillion to $5 trillion in AI-driven commerce by 2030. The initiative aims to create interoperable protocols for AI-mediated purchases, positioning the three firms to capture a share of the projected market.