The Web3 + AI Newsletter 21
Find the latest Web3 + AI partnerships powering AI training and inference, compute capacity, privacy, data availability, and more.
Hello, everyone, and warm welcome to all newly joined subscribers!
This is the Web3 + AI newsletter, where we explore the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence. We are now living in Bitcoin’s fifth era, and although it’s been less than a week, the crypto world is already different. Yet, the Crypto x AI space is incessantly evolving.
Thank you for being here! Let’s dive in.
What’s New in the Web3 + AI Startup World?
Aethir Joins Forces with io.net, Hemera Protocol
DePINs Aethir and io.net are combining their computing resources with the aim to democratize and decentralize the availability of high-performant AI infrastructure. io.net brings to the table its advanced infrastructure for harnessing idle computing power, whereas Aethir delivers its enterprise-grade GPU cloud, including 3,000 state-of-the-art NVIDIA AI H100 GPUs.
Together, the two companies will offer a powerful, low-latency, and cost-effective network comprising 640,000 GPUs and CPUs. With it, they hope to satisfy the exploding demand for computation, and to cater to the AI and gaming industries.
Aethir has also partnered with Hemera, an AI-native operating system for Web3 and creator of AI agents-powered blockchain data and analytics project SocialScan. The deal’s objective is “to support AI evolution with the help of Aethir’s decentralized GPU cloud network and establish new standards for computational resource accessibility and efficiency”.
[Aethir’s] distributed cloud infrastructure leverages underutilized GPUs from various sources, effectively addressing the global compute shortage that stifles advancements in AI, gaming, and other GPU-dependent sectors. By partnering with Aethir, SocialScan aims to harness this untapped potential, offering our users and partners enhanced computational power necessary for complex data processing and analytics tasks.
Nimble Partners with Social Scan, Linea, Mind Network
Nimble Network, the modular and decentralized platform for AI training and inference, has also partnered with the above-mentioned SocialScan. Their goal is to accelerate the next wave of community-owned AI and propel more inclusivity and ethics.
Moreover, Nimble struck two important deals, significantly boosting the decentralized AI stack and infrastructure. First, it integrated with the Consensys-bootstrapped zkEVM chain Linea to benefit from its high throughput, low gas fees, and enhanced privacy. The collaboration will also enable Linea dApp builders to access AI assets within the Nimble ecosystem.
Then, Mind Network agreed to introduce its fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) capabilities into Nimble’s ecosystem, once again showcasing FHE’s growing importance in the Web3 industry.
Another favourable side effect of the deal is that Mind’s members will have access to novel revenue streams and applications using Nimble’s diverse AI models and training data.
Crypto Miner Qtum Shifts to AI
Cryptocurrency miner and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validator Qtum Foundation has announced its transformation into an AI chatbot and image operator. The firm is to dedicate 10,000 NVIDIA 3000 series GPUs to power its new blockchain + AI ecosystem.
This is just the first stage of Qtum’s plan, as the company intends to launch up to 10 more AI-related products.
Announcements like this one confirm the concerns expressed in a recent CoinShares report that BTC miners may choose to switch to AI following the fourth BTC halving on April 20th.
Every 4 years, the issuance of new BTC coins, i.e., the reward a miner receives for producing a block on the Bitcoin blockchain, is cut in half. The latest halving event decreased that reward to 3.125 BTC per block, thus making the mining business 50% less profitable.
Meanwhile, the hunger for AI computation capacities is rising, which makes it a rather tempting alternatives to miners. However, if miners did switch, that will seriously hinder Bitcoin's security and decentralization.
0G to Equip BTC Staker Mirror with Data Availability
The AI-centric modular blockchain 0G will equip staking infrastructure provider Mirror with tools to upgrade Bitcoin with EVM-like functionalities, thus unlocking Bitcoin decentralized finance services (DeFi).
Mirror allows for BTC to be converted at 1:1 ratio to EVM-compatible mBTC, which subsequently can be deployed on various Layer 1 or Layer 2 chains, and used in lending, yield generation, etc.
Rivalz & bitsCrunch to Fuel AI + Web3 Market Intel
Rivalz Network, an AI-driven DePIN rollapp for data provenance, has integrated with bitsCrunch, an AI-powered NFT insights provider. Through that collaboration, Rivalz will be able to enrich its AI intel layer with NFT market data and widen its service offering and ecosystem.
Synesis One & OCADA to Supercharge AI on Solana
Solana-based Synesis One and OCADA AI (Formerly Bird) have entered a strategic partnership to leverage the Solana blockchain for building enhanced AI solutions. OCADA is an AI agent and tooling creator, whereas Synesis One is a data crowdsourcing company, incentivizing users to provide high-quaity AI training data.
Nillion, PublicAI to Use Nesa for AI Inference
The AI-centric Layer 1 chain Nesa has struck deals to integrate with both Nillion and PublicAI. While privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) are Nillion’s raison d’être, PublicAI rewards users for contributing data, optimizing and fine-tuning AI.
“Additionally, we will equip Nesa’s network with a comprehensive suite of AI data services, including meticulous data collection, precise labeling, and robust vector database offerings”, PublicAI commented.
Inco & Hyperlane to Spread Confidentiality Across L1/L2/L3s
Inco, the builder of an FHE confidentiality layer, has joined forces with the modular interoperability protocol Hyperlane India in order to expand across Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3 chains.
Noteworthy Podcasts, Articles, Events
Consensys Suing SEC
Consensys, a veteran Ethereum builder and backer, has had enough of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission‘s arbitrariness, which many would call criminal, and decided to play offense. The SEC current chair Gary Gensler has been recently going after the good guys in the industry, like Coinbase and Uniswap, while allegedly having had cozy ties with FTX’s SBF, one of the most massive crypto fraudsters in history.
Now, Gensler is gearing up to attack MetaMask, one of the oldest and most secure Web3 wallets, built by Consensys. However, Consensys strikes first, while also asking the court to declare once and for all: is ETH a security or not? Let’s hope this Sword of Damocles will finally stop hanging over our heads.
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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.
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