What MPP is
The Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) is an open standard that lets software agents pay for things over the web without a human filling in a checkout form. Stripe and Tempo launched it together, and it works inside the normal request and response cycle that every website and API already uses.
The problem it solves is simple. Pricing pages, plan pickers and card forms were built for people. An AI agent that needs to buy one API call, one dataset or one browser session has no good way through them. MPP gives the agent a direct route: ask for the resource, get told the price, pay, and receive it.
Six months after its March 2026 launch, MPP has moved from an announcement to a working network with real, if still small, usage. This post covers how it works, what has changed since launch, and what to watch next.