The Web3 + AI Daily #21
On today's agenda: why crypto behemoths continue venturing into AI and what are the pillars of the Decentralized AI Supremacy.
Hello, everyone!
This is The Web3 + AI Daily, your definitive guide into the world of Decentralized AI (DeAI)! It’s the peak of the summer vacation season, so exciting announcements are slower to come. Yet, I’ve collected plenty of fascinating readings that will shape and challenge your understanding of the Web3 + AI space.
Thank you for being here! Let’s dive in.
What’s Hot in Web3 + AI?
Tether Bets Even More on AI
After announcing Tether AI, an open-source, decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) platform in May, now the stablecoin issuer enters into another AI venture. Together with Rumble, Tether.io plans to acquire the AI infrastructure operator Northern Data Group for $1.17B in shares.
Bitcoin Miner MARA to Acquire Majority Stake in AI Firm Exaion
Another Bitcoin miner eyes switching to AI: MARA is acquiring a 64% stake in Exaion, a French AI and high-performance computing (HPC) firm owned by EDF, for $168M. The deal includes an option to increase ownership to 75% by 2027, if performance targets are met, with an additional $127M investment.
Web3 + AI Readings & Conversations
The Seven Pillars of Decentralized AI Supremacy
In an article for HyperCycle, the Futurist Speaker Thomas Frey CSP outlines why decentralized node networks will inevitably dominate over centralized counterparts in the forthcoming machine-to-machine economy.
Conservative estimates suggest billions of AI agents will be active by 2030, conducting trillions of transactions daily. No centralized system can handle this volume.
Frey lists micro-transactions, speed-of-light settlement, trustless execution, infinite scalabilty, censorship-resistance, accelerated network effects and composabilty as the definitive advantages of DeAI systems.
The transition to distributed node networks isn’t a matter of ideology or preference—it’s a matter of economic necessity. The AI economy requires infrastructure that can handle micro-transactions at machine speed, with cryptographic trust and infinite scalability. Centralized systems, designed for human users conducting large transactions, simply cannot meet these requirements.
I recommend you read the full story publication here.
Is Decentralized AI Always a Blockchain-Powered AI?
Samuele Marro, a PhD student in machine learning at the University of Oxford, has published an interesting opinion piece, on which I felt compelled to comment. The main thesis it expresses is that not all Decentralized AI projects are necessarily blockchain-based projects, and I totally agree. However, I have to object to some terminology distinctions the author makes.
Web3 is not blockchain. Web3 ideals emerged from cypherpunk: trustlessness, permissionlessness, censorship resistance and user ownership. The industry has forgotten a critical distinction: Web3 philosophy differs from blockchain technology. BitTorrent is Web3. Tor is Web3. IPFS is Web3. And now that Web3 AI is at the center of the hype, many find blockchains are often ill-suited.
Web3 is blockchain. The term ‘Web3’ illustrates the natural evolution of the term ‘crypto’. I was there when the ‘crypto space’ became the ‘web3 space’, when everyone put ‘web3 enthusiast’ in their LinkedIn bio, and the conversation shifted from altcoins and ICOs to the next generation of the World Wide Web. A web that’s decentralized, interoperable, and user-owned.
‘Blockchain’, ‘crypto’, and ‘web3’ have been interchangeable when we’re talking about trustlessness, permissionlessness, censorship resistance, and transparency. All of them have been equally used to identify a community of builders, thinkers, and activists fighting for the cypherpunk ideal of privacy and user sovereignty. Whether the crypto industry as it is today still continues to champion these values is unfortunately a totally different question.
Decentralized AI includes distributed computing, federated learning, P2P networks and edge computing, none of which inherently require blockchain infrastructure.
Crypto-integrated AI involves token incentives, cryptographic proofs, digital asset management and legitimate use cases that can be implemented using blockchains.
Web3 AI represents user ownership, permissionless innovation and community governance, which can be achieved through multiple technological approaches.
As a person who’s been heavily invested in researching the Decentralized AI space for more than two years, I have to disagree. Though, my objection is entirely in the realm of nomenclature.
In my mind, Decentralized AI is a collective term for blockchain and non-blockchain-based AI, used more broadly in contradistinction to centralized, Big Tech-controlled AI. Crypto AI suggests the integration of blockchain technology, and possibly tokenomics, but so does Web3 AI. Finally, all three of them carry the promise of user ownership, permissionlessness, enhanced security and confidentiality.
I believe that clearer terminology will inevitably emerge with the evolution of the DeAI space and each of its subcategories. However, if we’re not careful, we risk blurring the DeAI narrative, making our core messages even more confusing, and erecting even higher barriers to entry for newcomers.
Thank you for reading! I hope you found this article insightful.
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Disclaimer: The content of this newsletter is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice or as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any of the companies or assets mentioned.
Please don’t take my views at face value. Instead, do your own research (DYOR), think critically, and share your perspective so we can challenge ideas, learn from one another, and arrive at better conclusions through thoughtful discussion.