Tether has invested in San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup AIsa alongside HIVEN, completing a seed extension round that brings the company’s total funding to more than $9 million.
Summary
- Tether and HIVEN joined AIsa’s latest funding round, bringing its total investment above $9 million.
- AIsa previously reported $6.5 million in funding after Alibaba and Tribe Capital backed its development.
- Tether confirmed its investment but did not reveal the amount contributed or its ownership stake.
- AIsa provides AI agents with access to paid data, software tools, and controlled payment services.
- Tether said AIsa supports over 250,000 operating agents and has processed 100 million transactions worldwide.
In an October 15 announcement, AIsa confirmed that the two investors had joined its existing backers, including Alibaba, Tribe Capital, Sumitomo Corporation, Draper Associates and Saison Capital. The company develops technology that allows AI agents to access online services and make payments while following spending limits set by businesses.
Tether Capital separately confirmed its participation, describing the investment as part of its work on AI-powered payments and programmable money. Neither company disclosed the amount Tether invested, AIsa’s valuation or the ownership stake acquired through the transaction.
The funding follows AIsa’s earlier financing announcement in July, when the company reported cumulative capital of $6.5 million.
Tether joins AIsa funding round as capital tops $9 million
The October financing brings AIsa’s reported funding total above $9 million, with Tether and HIVEN joining an investor group that already includes technology companies and venture capital firms.
In July, Alibaba and Tribe Capital co-led AIsa’s earlier seed round. Draper Associates, Sumitomo Corporation and Saison Capital participated in that financing, according to the company’s July 3 disclosure.
At the time, AIsa said it had secured $6.5 million in funding since its founding in 2025. Its latest announcement places cumulative investment at more than $9 million.
Comparing the two disclosed totals shows that AIsa has added more than $2.5 million to its reported funding since July.
However, the difference does not establish the exact size of the October extension. AIsa has not disclosed the individual contributions from Tether and HIVEN or explained whether other financing transactions occurred between the two announcements.
The company has not announced a new valuation or published the terms governing its latest financing.
Tether’s investment came through Tether Capital, the company’s investment arm based in El Salvador. According to its official announcement, the investment business deploys capital from company profits and excess reserves into technology, finance and other industries.
For AIsa, the funding supports work on a network designed to connect enterprise AI systems with paid digital services.
The company plans to develop its resource marketplace, payment infrastructure and enterprise controls, building on projects introduced during its earlier funding round.
AIsa builds payment tools for enterprise AI agents
AIsa’s platform allows AI agents to find and purchase access to external data, AI models, application programming interfaces and business software.
Its system combines service access with payment processing, allowing companies to manage purchases through a single interface instead of maintaining separate accounts and subscriptions for every provider.
According to the company’s October 15 statement, the platform includes usage tracking, billing and settlement alongside controls for permissions, budgets and transaction approvals.
Businesses can establish spending limits before allowing AI agents to purchase services. AIsa says its infrastructure records transactions and provides audit trails for monitoring how automated systems use company resources.
The company describes this model as its Trusted Resource and Transaction Network for Enterprise AI Agents.
For example, a research agent preparing a report could access paid financial information through the platform, with the business controlling the amount it is allowed to spend.
An enterprise agent managing procurement could use connected services to obtain information, access software and complete permitted transactions without requiring a separate purchasing arrangement for every provider.
AIsa said payments can use conventional currencies or stablecoins, depending on the service and transaction arrangements.
Tether’s October 15 statement described stablecoins as one option for paying providers through the platform. It did not announce that every transaction would settle in USDT or that AIsa would exclusively use Tether-issued tokens.
Jordan Liu, AIsa’s founder and CEO, said enterprise AI agents require “trusted information, useful tools and a governed way to transact.”
He described the company’s plans as building infrastructure that allows automated systems to access resources and make authorized payments while businesses retain control over permissions and spending.
Tether identifies AI payments as an investment opportunity
Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino linked the investment to the growing use of AI systems that carry out tasks on behalf of individuals and businesses.
In Tether’s investment statement, Ardoino said users need control over what automated agents spend as those systems take on more responsibilities.
He described AIsa as developing infrastructure that combines access to paid services with financial controls.
The announcement included company-reported usage figures showing more than 250,000 agents operating on AIsa’s platform and over 100 million transactions processed.
AIsa’s network provides access to more than 5,000 APIs, software tools and models through a single account, according to Tether.
The figures were presented by the investor and have not been independently audited. Neither announcement disclosed the proportion of transactions settled using stablecoins or the total payment value processed.
The company’s July funding statement had reported more than 50,000 registered agents and said activity grew substantially during the first half of 2026.
Those earlier registrations and the latest count of operating agents use different descriptions, so the two figures do not establish an exact increase in active customers.
Tether has pursued related investments involving AI systems capable of managing transactions.
In June, crypto.news reported Tether’s robotics investment as NEURA Robotics announced financing of up to $1.4 billion from a group of backers that included Tether, Nvidia and other technology companies.
Tether’s October investment announcement referred to plans involving its Wallet Development Kit and QVAC technology within robotic systems.
The Wallet Development Kit supports the development of self-custodial wallets, while QVAC is designed to support AI functions running on local devices.
Earlier in May, Tether-backed Oobit introduced AI payment cards designed to allow approved business agents to make purchases using USDT.
The product included transaction-level spending restrictions and merchant controls intended to govern automated purchases.
AIsa begins enterprise trials as Tether expands AI investments
The funding announcement follows a period of investment activity supported by Tether’s earnings from its reserve assets.
In July, the company reported $1.5 billion in profit for the second quarter of 2026, with returns from U.S. Treasury holdings and repurchase agreements contributing to its financial results.
The company’s reported assets totaled approximately $187.7 billion at the end of June, while excess reserves stood near $4.1 billion.
Those figures describe Tether’s financial position during the second quarter. They do not identify how much of its capital was allocated to the AIsa investment.
Tether’s technology work has included products outside payments. On October 15, the company released an offline speech model designed to run on phones, smart glasses and robotic devices without sending audio to cloud servers.
AIsa, meanwhile, said it had begun pilot programs with enterprises exploring uses for automated agents in financial intelligence, market research, supply-chain management and commerce.
The company did not identify its pilot partners or disclose the number of active contracts, their commercial value or whether the programs had progressed to full production deployments.
Its October announcement named expanding the global resource network, strengthening enterprise spending controls and developing transaction infrastructure as its next priorities.