The ask, not the money
How do you give an AI money? You don’t. Alix has a modest monthly allowance she can propose spending from, and the proposal is the entire capability. She files a structured request, what, why, cost; it becomes a card I approve or deny on the record; and if I approve, I buy the thing myself, by hand.
The diagram draws the line the whole design is built around. On her side: wanting, asking, and a governance ledger that records every decision and the reasoning behind it. On the other side, where nothing crosses, sits the money, with no payment method, no credential, no code path to move it. This is enforcement by omission: you cannot misuse a dangerous capability that was never built.
Why the asking gets to be completely free once the floor is that solid is in She has an allowance.