How does Block use AI across its payment ecosystem?
Block runs machine learning at the risk and credit layers of both of its networks and is now putting AI agents in front of sellers and consumers. Its FY2025 10-K says Square automates risk assessment for more than 99.95% of all transactions. On Cash App, Payment Warnings, which use machine-learning models to flag likely scams on peer-to-peer payments, had helped protect customers from more than $2 billion in potential scams since August 2020, Block said in June 2025. Credit decisions for Cash App Borrow, Afterpay and Square Loans run on Block's own models; Block says the technology behind Cash App Score, piloted in November 2025, approves 38% more Borrow customers at the same loss rate than traditional credit underwriting. Seller-facing AI started with Square AI, in public beta for all U.S. sellers from June 3, 2025, and Managerbot; the consumer assistant Moneybot had over 1 million weekly engaged accounts in Q2 2026. In agentic commerce, Square launched a ChatGPT app and a Claude plugin on July 1, 2026, with orders placed through Order by Cash App. Block says it stays model-agnostic, on one internal platform for model access and routing. It does not report revenue from AI products or agentic order volumes.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Data as of Oct 19, 2026 · Block profile updated Oct 19, 2026 · 25 sources cited on this page · 52 fintechs profiled on this site · Markdown
Where in the payment flow does Block use AI?
One row per layer, with Block's product name and the latest dated figure it has published. Results are Block's own measurements.
| Layer | Product | What the record shows | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seller payment risk | Square risk platform | The 10-K says Block places "a strong emphasis on data analytics and machine learning" and that Square captures and analyzes billions of transactions a year and automates risk assessment for more than 99.95% of all transactions | February 26, 2026[1] |
| Peer-to-peer scam warnings | Payment Warnings | Machine-learning models trained on customer scam reports, support cases and transaction data trigger a pop-up when a scam is likely; customers abandon or cancel the payment nearly 50% of the time | August 9, 2024[7] |
| Peer-to-peer scam warnings, results | Payment Warnings | Helped protect customers from more than $2 billion in potential P2P scams since launch in August 2020; the system uses AI and machine learning to evaluate hundreds of risk factors on every P2P payment in real time | June 26, 2025[2] |
| Scams on social media | Social Media Guardian | An internal model built on BERTweet, tuned on Cash App's own labelled X data, hides scam replies to Cash App's posts; more than 2,000 posts suppressed weekly across X and Instagram | September 5, 2024[8] |
| Consumer credit | Cash App Score | Built on the same underwriting model behind Cash App's credit products; Block used its AI tools to translate model features into customer-friendly explanations; 38% more Borrow approvals at the same loss rate than traditional credit underwriting | November 19, 2025[3] |
| Seller assistant | Square AI | Conversational assistant in Square Dashboard, public beta for all U.S. sellers; it leverages Block's goose agent and Square data, per the Q2 2025 letter; by the Q3 2025 letter it had answered hundreds of thousands of seller questions | 2025[4][9][10] |
| Seller assistant, local data | Square AI | Added web access for local weather, events, news and reviews, pinned charts on the Dashboard and mobile access; Square began rolling out an AI voice ordering tool in October 2025 | October 8, 2025[11][10] |
| Seller agent | Managerbot | Available to over 1 million sellers in Q1 2026, with U.S. general availability expected in June; by Q2 2026 automating marketing, margin analysis and operational fixes for sellers | May 7 and August 5, 2026[12][5] |
| Consumer agent | Moneybot | Introduced at Cash App's first Releases event as an AI-powered feature offering insights and suggestions from in-app activity; generally available with over 1 million weekly engaged accounts in Q2 2026 | November 13, 2025 to August 5, 2026[13][5] |
| Developer tooling | Square MCP server | A Model Context Protocol server, in beta, connecting AI assistants such as Claude, Goose and Cursor to the Square API; the remote server uses OAuth with granular permissions | Undated page, retrieved October 19, 2026[14] |
How far has Block taken AI agents into commerce and payments?
The profile covers goose, MCP and the Agentic AI Foundation; these rows add the commerce record.
| Item | What happened | Date |
|---|---|---|
| goose as the customer interface | Jack Dorsey said on the May 1, 2025 earnings call that "by the end of this year, goose will act as a personal CFO for consumers and a COO for sellers", per PYMNTS | June 4, 2025[15] |
| Afterpay over Google's Universal Commerce Protocol | Block engineers integrated Afterpay into goose over UCP to test BNPL inside an agent checkout; unlike a stored card token, BNPL needs real-time underwriting, so Afterpay must identify the user and assess risk before authorizing | February 5, 2026[16] |
| Square sellers in ChatGPT and Claude | A ChatGPT app and a Claude plugin let customers discover U.S. food and beverage sellers with Square Online Ordering and place orders using Order by Cash App; orders route to the seller's POS with no added marketplace commission; Square is also working with Amazon on Alexa+ | July 1, 2026[6] |
| Cash App Tags | NFC payment accessories linked to the Cash App Card launched June 4, 2026; the Q2 2026 letter says they come "with a foundation for agentic commerce built in" | June 4 and August 5, 2026[17][5] |
| Agents on the developer side | The Square MCP server lets AI agents call the full Square API, including customers, orders and items, after the seller authorizes scopes | Undated page, retrieved October 19, 2026[14] |
How does Block build and control its AI, and what does it not disclose?
Block says it built goose in early 2024 to work with any model, and that all of its AI runs on one internal platform for model access, routing, tools and permissions, with evaluation systems that let it improve quality independently of the underlying models. At its November 2025 Investor Day it said more than 6,500 of its 10,000+ employees used goose every week and engineers were saving eight to ten hours weekly.[5][18]
For Square AI, Block says it never sends highly sensitive business or financial information to model providers or partners, and has enterprise agreements so that no data processed by third parties is retained outside Square systems or used for training.[4]
The FY2025 10-K warns that the AI tools Block relies on after its workforce reduction "may not perform as expected" and "may introduce operational or cybersecurity risks", and that laws governing AI are evolving rapidly. The fraud record is part of the context: in January 2025 the CFPB ordered Block to pay up to $175 million over Cash App's fraud handling and dispute investigations.[1][19]
What is not disclosed: revenue from AI products, false-positive rates for Payment Warnings (the $2 billion is Block's minimum estimate of highly probable scams customers did not complete), order volumes through ChatGPT, Claude or Alexa+, and which model providers sit behind Square AI, Managerbot and Moneybot.[2][6][5]
What does the Block profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Block AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 19, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 12 dated moves, 7 use cases and 14 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moneybot (Cash App) | In-app assistant that surfaces spending, income and savings insights and proactively recommends actions; generally available with over 1 million weekly engaged accounts in Q2 2026, with about 70% of conversations started from proactive prompts in Q1 2026. | In production | [12][5] |
| Managerbot (Square) | Business agent in Square Dashboard that monitors sales, labor and inventory, flags issues and proposes actions that execute only after the seller approves; opened to more sellers in beta in April 2026 and available to over 1 million sellers, with US general availability expected in June 2026 per the Q1 letter. | Rolling out | [20][12] |
| Builderbot and goose | Builderbot, part of Block's agent stack built on goose, was making 15% of production code changes nearly fully autonomously as of early April 2026, with people making the final decision to push to production; in June 2026 agentic AI helped write and review nearly all production code changes. | In production | [12][5] |
| Machine-learning risk assessment | Block says rapid fraud detection is a machine-learning problem it has run in production at scale for over fifteen years; its 10-K says Square automates risk assessment for more than 99.95% of all transactions. | In production | [5][1] |
| Model-agnostic model platform | Block says it built goose to work with any model because betting on a single lab means inheriting its ceiling, and runs one internal platform for model access, routing, tools and permissions so it can switch when a better model ships. | In production | [5] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | Q2 2026: Moneybot passes 1 million weekly engaged accounts | Block reported gross profit of $3.17 billion (up 25%), said Moneybot was generally available with over 1 million weekly engaged accounts, and said agentic AI helped write and review nearly all production code changes in June. | [5] |
| Jul 8, 2026 | $45 million multistate settlement over Cash App fraud | A multistate group of attorneys general announced a $45 million settlement resolving allegations that Block failed to protect Cash App users from fraud and did not provide the fraud protection and resolution it promised; it requires antifraud measures and customer support. | [21] |
| May 7, 2026 | Q1 2026: Moneybot live across Cash App, every employee using AI | Block's shareholder letter said 100% of employees were using AI tools as of early April, Builderbot was making 15% of production code changes nearly fully autonomously, Moneybot was live across Cash App, and Managerbot was available to over 1 million sellers with US general availability expected in June. | [12] |
| Apr 28, 2026 | Managerbot opens to more Square sellers | Square opened Managerbot, described as the next evolution of Square AI, to a broader group of sellers in open beta inside Square Dashboard; it monitors sales and labor, flags issues and proposes actions that the seller must approve. | [20] |
| Dec 9, 2025 | Block co-founds the Agentic AI Foundation | Anthropic, Block and OpenAI co-founded the Agentic AI Foundation under the Linux Foundation; Block's goose joined Anthropic's MCP and OpenAI's AGENTS.md as founding projects. | [22] |
| Nov 13, 2025 | Cash App introduces Moneybot | Cash App's fall release introduced Moneybot, an assistant that answers questions about spending patterns and income and suggests actions, available to select users at launch with broader availability planned. | [23] |
| Jan 28, 2025 | Block open-sources codename goose | Block Open Source introduced goose, an open-source framework for building AI agents that take real-world actions such as running commands and modifying files; goose suggests actions but asks for confirmation before making changes. | [24] |
| Jan 16, 2025 | CFPB orders Cash App operator to pay up to $175 million | The CFPB found Block failed to take timely and effective measures against fraud on Cash App, directed defrauded users to their banks instead of fully investigating disputes, and for years offered no working phone support; the order requires up to $120 million in redress and a $55 million civil money penalty. | [19] |
| Nov 25, 2024 | Block named an early adopter of Anthropic's MCP | Anthropic's launch of the Model Context Protocol named Block as an early adopter that had integrated MCP into its systems, with CTO Dhanji Prasanna saying Block was excited to use it to build agentic systems. | [25] |
Does Block use AI to stop fraud on Cash App?
Yes. Cash App's Payment Warnings use machine-learning models to evaluate hundreds of risk factors on each peer-to-peer payment and warn customers when a scam is likely. Block said in June 2025 that the feature had helped protect customers from more than $2 billion in potential scams since August 2020, and that customers cancel nearly half of warned payments.
How much of Square's payment risk is automated?
Block's FY2025 10-K, filed February 26, 2026, says Square's technology platform captures and analyzes billions of transactions a year and automates risk assessment for more than 99.95% of all transactions. Block does not publish the share of flagged payments that turn out to be fraudulent or its false-positive rate.
What is Square AI?
Square AI is a conversational assistant in Square Dashboard, in public beta for all U.S. sellers from June 3, 2025. Sellers ask about sales, customers, staff and transactions in plain language. In October 2025 it gained local weather, events and reviews data, and Block said it had answered hundreds of thousands of seller questions.
Can you order from Square sellers through ChatGPT or Claude?
Yes, since July 1, 2026 for eligible U.S. food and beverage sellers using Square Online Ordering. Customers find restaurants and place orders through a ChatGPT app or a Claude plugin, paying with Order by Cash App; orders reach the seller's POS and Square charges no added marketplace commission. Square is also working with Amazon on Alexa+.
Which AI models does Block use?
Block does not name the models behind its customer products. It says it built goose in early 2024 to work with any model and runs one internal platform for model access, routing, tools and permissions, so it can switch when a better model ships. Its Square MCP server works with Claude, Goose, Cursor and other assistants.
- Block, Inc. Annual Report 2025 (Form 10-K)
- Cash App's Payment Warnings Feature Helped Prevent Over $2 Billion in Scams
- Cash App Score Pilot Launches Utilizing Near Real-time Data
- Square AI, Now in Open Beta, Unlocks Business Insights
- Q2 2026 Shareholder Letter (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- Square Introduces New ChatGPT and Claude Integrations, Helping Sellers Reach Customers Through AI-Powered Discovery
- How AI-Driven Scam Warnings Help Prevent Fraud on Cash App
- Utilizing Machine Learning to Catch Social Media Scammers
- Q2 2025 Shareholder Letter (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- Q3 2025 Shareholder Letter (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- Square AI Gains New Intelligence Capabilities, Providing Deeper Business and Neighborhood Insights to Square Sellers
- Q1 2026 Shareholder Letter (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- Introducing Cash App Releases: See What's New
- Square Model Context Protocol Server (undated page, retrieved 2026-10-19)
- Square Adds Conversational AI Assistant to Business Technology Platform
- Agentic Commerce & BNPL: Integrating Afterpay with the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)
- Introducing Cash App Tags: A New Way to Pay
- Inside Block's 2025 Investor Day: Building for Profitable Growth Through Connected Ecosystems
- CFPB Orders Operator of Cash App to Pay $175 Million and Fix Its Failures on Fraud
- Square Brings Managerbot to More Sellers, Giving Main Street an Intelligent Business Agent
- Attorney General Phil Weiser announces $45M nationwide settlement with Block, Inc. over deceptive practices on Cash App
- Donating the Model Context Protocol and establishing the Agentic AI Foundation
- Cash App debuts a new AI assistant that answers questions about your finances
- Introducing codename goose
- Introducing the Model Context Protocol
When Block moves on AI, you'll read it here first.
when a bank, fintech or regulator moves on AI, it is in the next morning's brief · six sourced stories · 7 am PT · free
plus every regulation, bank and agent page update, the morning after · leave any morning