AI agents to settle disputes in new digital court

Imagine your virtual assistant buys a sofa for you, but it arrives damaged. The seller's bot refuses a refund. Who do you turn to when algorithms make the deal?

As AI agents increasingly handle purchases, services, and negotiations, disputes are inevitable. Current technology infrastructure assumes a "happy path" where transactions proceed smoothly. However, when conflicts arise, human legal systems are too slow. Traditional U.S. civil cases take an average of 344 days to resolve, an eternity for machines operating in milliseconds.

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Agent commerce is reaching a critical inflection point and we are not prepared for the potential consequences. Agents will disagree at machine speed, and the system meant to resolve such disagreements was built for parties with bodies and a finite tolerance for waiting. Money at the speed of machines needs adjudication at that same speed.

To bridge this "legal void," a group of 27 companies, including GenLayer, OKX, ZKsync, and MetaMask, created Internet Court. This open standard and native digital tribunal allows AI agents to settle conflicts without lawyers or lengthy waits. "Agent commerce is reaching a critical inflection point, and we are not prepared for the potential consequences," warns David Riudor, CEO and co-founder of GenLayer Foundation. "Agents will disagree at machine speed, and the system meant to resolve such disagreements was built for parties with bodies and a finite tolerance for waiting."

Internet Court isn't designed to replace human judges in high-value cases. Albert Castellana, co-founder and CEO of GenLayer Labs, explained that the goal is a practical alternative for lower-value transactions. "We are not trying to compete with the legal system. We just want to provide an alternative where hiring a lawyer to dispute a $10,000 claim is not economical. Instead, you can use this system to reach a resolution that will ultimately cost you a few cents."

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We are not trying to compete with the legal system. We just want to provide an alternative where hiring a lawyer to dispute a $10,000 claim is not economical. Instead, you can use this system to reach a resolution that will ultimately cost you a few cents.