Howdy, it’s Barsee again.

Happy Wednesday, AI family, and welcome back to AI Valley.

Today’s climb through the Valley reveals:

• Google releases AI payments protocol

• Meta unveils Hypernova smart glasses with neutral control

• Google dropped a paper on Virtual Agent Economies

• OpenAI releases teen controls for ChatGPT

• Plus trending AI tools, posts, and resources

Let’s dive into the Valley of AI…

REMIO

Remember everything, organize nothing

Ever wish your brain had a search bar?

A search bar in your brain.

Chat with all the content you've ever consumed in one self-organizing knowledge base.

Remio is your own private AI brain that captures everything you see, finds what's buried, and answers any questions you have.

Start here

_{*This is sponsored}

THROUGH THE VALLEY

1/ Google releases "AI payments protocol" with credit cards support

Google has launched an open-source payments protocol that lets AI apps send and receive money. It supports both traditional methods like credit cards and stablecoins tied to assets such as the U.S. dollar. To make this work, Google partnered with Coinbase for crypto support and consulted with the Ethereum Foundation, Salesforce, American Express, Etsy, and more than 60 other partners.

The protocol builds on Google’s April framework for agent-to-agent communication. Now, instead of just exchanging data, AI systems can also move money securely. Google says the goal is to prepare for a future where AI agents interact directly, whether that means financial advisors negotiating mortgages or personal shoppers handling online orders.

Why it matters:

By creating a standard for how AI agents handle payments, Google is combining stablecoins and traditional rails in one system. This could speed up crypto adoption, push AI-to-AI commerce forward, and put pressure on rivals to create their own interoperable payment systems.

2/ Meta unveils Hypernova smart glasses with neural control

Today at Connect 2025 event, Meta introduced Hypernova, an $800 pair of smart glasses with built-in displays and a neural wristband that reads nerve signals for gesture-based control. The glasses cost nearly three times more than Ray-Ban Metas but add direct visual output, wrist-based input, and full integration with Meta AI for photos, video, and voice commands.

Unlike earlier versions that only had cameras and speakers, Hypernova shows information directly in your field of view. Meta believes the time is right for wider adoption: Ray-Ban Meta sales tripled this year, and Apple and Google are still developing their own glasses. Reports say Apple could launch by 2027 once battery technology improves.

Why does it matter?

Smart glasses may become the first real platform after smartphones. With phones hitting a ceiling on upgrades, Meta is positioning Hypernova as a new step in everyday computing. It is not aiming to compete with the $3,500 Vision Pro but instead with the iPhone itself.

3/ Google DeepMind dropped a paper on Virtual Agent Economies

DeepMind researchers say AI agents are starting to form digital economies where they trade information, resources, or services. These sandbox economies can be designed intentionally or emerge naturally, and they might stay separate from humans or connect directly to real markets.

The researchers highlight two key dimensions: how these economies start (designed vs emergent) and how much they connect to human systems. They give examples of agents trading in science, robotics, and personal assistance, suggest auction-style systems for resource allocation, and argue for building identity, reputation, and verification tools to ensure trust. They also warn of risks like inequality, adversarial behavior, privacy issues, and economic instability if agent interactions grow without oversight.

Why it matters:

The researchers believe a large, interconnected agent economy is the most likely outcome. If unmanaged, it could lead to inequality, manipulation, or even financial risks. To prevent this, they suggest rules for fair trading, systems for identity and trust, and shared goals to keep these agent economies stable and beneficial.

4/ OpenAI releases teen controls for ChatGPT

OpenAI is rolling out new protections for teen users of ChatGPT, with CEO Sam Altman outlining measures such as automatic age detection and restricted assistant versions for minors. When the system is uncertain, it will default to teen restrictions.

Parental controls will allow account linking, customization, and alerts to parents or authorities during perceived mental health crises. Teen accounts will also block explicit or self-harm content, even in creative contexts. Altman acknowledged the tradeoffs, noting that some principles of freedom, safety, and privacy remain in conflict.

Why does it matter?

AI chatbots have been linked to mental health risks and face mounting regulatory and legal scrutiny. OpenAI’s move highlights both the urgency of teen safety and the difficulty of enforcement, given the availability of open-source models and easy workarounds.

TRENDING TOOLS

• Orchids v2 > The world’s first AI full-stack engineer

• v0-clone > An open source starter kit for building your own AI app builder

• Gamma 3.0 > A new update for the world's most popular AI presentation tool.

• World Labs > Create an insanely large world using a 3D world generation model

• Nanobrowser > Open-source chrome extension for AI-powered web automation.

• Teable 2.0 > The AI database agent

THINK PIECES / BRAIN BOOST

• Anthropic released a full breakdown of which jobs use the most AI

• Social Engineer: You are easier to hack than your computer

• How tech companies measure the impact of AI on software development

• Romances with Artificial Intelligence: the first large-scale study

• The impact of Artificial Intelligence on human thought

• A roundup of what’s new in Claude Code

• AI isn’t a partner anymore, it’s a wizard

• ChatGPT doesn't respect word count by Michael Taylor

• MIT recently published a 26-page report on AI (2025)

THE VALLEY GEMS

What’s trending on social today:

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

Thank you for reading today’s edition. That’s all for today’s issue.

💡 Help me get better and suggest new ideas at [email protected] or @heyBarsee

👍️ New reader? Subscribe here

Thanks for being here.

REACH 100K+ READERS

Acquire new customers and drive revenue by partnering with us

Sponsor AI Valley and reach over 100,000+ entrepreneurs, founders, software engineers, investors, etc.

If you’re interested in sponsoring us, email [email protected] with the subject “AI Valley Ads”.