The end of ads: Coinbase engineer says AI agents could kill the internet’s favorite business model
Key takeaways
- AI agents bypass that system entirely.By Margaux Nijkerk|Edited by Jamie Crawley Updated May 6, 2026, 5:12 p.m.
- “The internet was designed for humans to use,” Reppel said. “We now live in a world where both humans and computers operate and computers operate computers.”
- Today’s web economy depends heavily on advertising revenue generated when humans visit websites and view ads, according to Reppel.
The end of ads: Coinbase engineer says AI agents could kill the internet’s favorite business model Erik Reppel, who created the x402 protocol, said that the web economy depends heavily on advertising revenue generated from humans. AI agents bypass that system entirely.By Margaux Nijkerk|Edited by Jamie Crawley Updated May 6, 2026, 5:12 p.m. Published May 6, 2026, 4:44 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Erik Reppel, founder of x402, at Consensus Miami 2026 (CoinDesk)What to know: Coinbase Developer Platform head Erik Reppel said at Consensus Miami 2026 that AI agents could disrupt the internet’s ad-based business model because autonomous software ignores online ads entirely. Reppel argued that crypto-powered micropayments and Coinbase-backed x402 could help create a new “internet-native” payment system where AI agents automatically pay for content, APIs and digital services.Coinbase engineering head Erik Reppel offered a glimpse into how artificial intelligence could reshape the economics of the internet, arguing that AI agents may force a shift away from the web’s ad-driven business model.
Speaking onstage at Consensus Miami 2026, Reppel, the founder of the x402 payments protocol and head of engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform, said the internet was originally built around humans interacting with websites, not software interacting with software.
“The internet was designed for humans to use,” Reppel said. “We now live in a world where both humans and computers operate and computers operate computers.”