Foundation Raises $6.4M to Build Hardware That Authorizes AI Agents in Real Time

Alongside the funding, Foundation announced general availability of Passport Prime, its flagship security device, and opened the KeyOS developer platform to outside builders. Passport Prime began shipping to pre-order customers in March 2026 and is now available to the public starting at $349.

The company calls this category “Human Authority Hardware,” dedicated devices that sit outside the software environment where an AI agent operates. The argument is that a browser prompt or phone notification running on the same machine as an agent cannot serve as a reliable checkpoint for high-stakes actions involving money, credentials, or sensitive data.

CTO Ken Carpenter described the shift in terms of what the device is actually doing. “A hardware wallet is a calculator. KeyOS is a computer,” Carpenter said. “The device stops being a box your keys sit in and becomes the trust layer for everything you do online.”

The KeyOS developer platform is now open. Developers can access the full SDK, CLI tooling, documentation, a simulator, and a USB-connected MCP server that lets AI coding agents build and test applications directly on Passport Prime hardware. Foundation plans to launch a KeyOS app store for all users by the end of Q2 2026.

Arche Capital Partner Will Wolf, who led Foundation’s 2022 seed round while at Polychain Capital, said the KeyOS release delivers on the original thesis. “The long game was never just signing devices. It was secure hardware paired with a secure operating system that lets users manage their entire digital lives.”

Foundation’s expansion puts it alongside other hardware security companies exploring the intersection of AI agents and on-device authorization, a category that has grown as AI systems gain the ability to move money, access accounts, and execute actions across digital services at machine speed.