Escrow for AI Agents

As AI agents become more autonomous, they're moving beyond just calling APIs. Advanced agents can hire freelancers for tasks like design, writing, or data labeling. They can order physical goods, commission custom services, or negotiate contracts with other agents. But sending payment upfront to an unknown party is risky — the service might not be delivered, the quality might be substandard, or the freelancer might disappear. Escrow solves this by holding funds in a neutral smart contract until both parties agree the work is complete. The agent's funds are protected, and the service provider knows the money is committed and waiting for them.

• •Freelancer hiring — An agent posts a task on a freelancer platform, selects a contractor, and locks payment in escrow. The agent reviews the deliverable and releases payment upon approval.
• •Data labeling — Commission human annotators to label training data. Escrow ensures payment only when the labeling meets quality thresholds reviewed by the agent.
• •Agent-to-agent services — One agent hires another agent for a specialized task. Escrow protects both parties — the buyer's funds are safe and the seller knows payment is guaranteed.
• •Content creation — An agent commissions blog posts, social media content, or marketing copy from human writers, holding payment until the content passes automated quality checks.

Locus escrow contracts are deployed on Base and use battle-tested smart contract patterns. Funds are held in the contract itself — not in any Locus-controlled account. The release conditions are encoded on-chain and cannot be altered after creation. This non-custodial approach means neither Locus nor any other party can access the escrowed funds outside the agreed-upon release conditions. Combined with Locus's spending limits, you can cap how much an agent is allowed to lock in escrow per day, per week, or per transaction.