Lightning Labs launches pi402 for AI agents to pay Bitcoin over Lightning

Lightning Labs has launched the open-source extension "pi402," which lets AI coding agents pay inference costs directly in Bitcoin over the Lightning Network, according to Crypto Briefing. The tool was designed to allow AI agents to check service pricing, make payments and continue their work without account sign-ups, API keys or credit cards. Its core technology is L402, a payment protocol developed by Lightning Labs that combines HTTP’s "402 Payment Required" response with Bitcoin payment invoices on the Lightning Network.