The combination of AI and blockchain is a highly anticipated topic in the industry, with developers actively exploring the potential of this integration. Currently, blockchain technology is considered an ideal solution for many issues, such as the inability to properly utilize AI services and computing resources. Several projects have already paved their own paths in this field.

Today, Dr. DODO will take you through some of the noteworthy projects in the AI and computing resources market.

AI + Blockchain

In the blockchain field, projects focused on AI can be categorized into three main tracks:

1. Computing Power Resource Sharing: Blockchain technology can build distributed cloud computing platforms, enabling the sharing and efficient use of computing power resources. Through smart contracts, idle computing resources can be leased to tasks that need computational power, thereby enhancing resource utilization and reducing costs. Representative projects include io.net and Aethir.
2. AI Data Security and Verifiable Computing: Both AI and blockchain technologies need to handle large amounts of data. Blockchain storage networks provide secure data storage and transmission methods, while AI generates valuable information by analyzing this data. Combining the two can protect user privacy while providing reliable data sources for AI. Currently, Arweave is a notable project in this direction.
3. Decentralized AI: Deploying AI models on blockchain networks can achieve decentralized artificial intelligence services. This approach improves system reliability and stability and reduces the risk of single points of failure. Currently, Bittensor is a leading project in this direction.

io.net

Recently launched on Binance, io.net is the current hot topic in its field. io.net is a decentralized GPU network aimed at providing massive computing power for machine learning applications. Their vision is to unlock fair access to computing power by assembling over one million GPUs from independent data centers, crypto miners, and projects like Filecoin, making computation more scalable, accessible, and efficient.

io.net offers a completely different approach to cloud computing by utilizing a distributed and decentralized model, giving users greater control and flexibility over computing power. Their services are permissionless and cost-effective. According to io.net, their computing power costs are 90% lower than centralized providers like Amazon AWS. All these factors combined make io.net a standout among decentralized providers.

Source: io.net

Aethir

Aethir provides a disruptive yet highly feasible solution to the complex problem of efficiently utilizing global computing resources. Their network aggregates and intelligently redistributes both new and idle GPUs from enterprises, data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations, and consumers. The market opportunity for better reallocation of GPU capacity is extensive, and Aethir aims to increase the current global GPU computing availability by more than tenfold.

A key feature of Aethir is its focus on repurposing existing idle resources instead of requiring node participants to purchase new hardware. Typically, the underutilized GPU capacity of a device is estimated to be between 50% and 75%, indicating a significant amount of computing power that can be tokenized. Aethir aims to leverage these abundant idle resources by targeting small to medium-sized data centers and enterprises.

Aethir’s token is currently listed on exchanges such as OKX and Bybit. Previously, the company raised $9 million in a Pre-A funding round, led by well-known institutions like Sanctor Capital and Hashkey.

Source: aethir.com

Arweave

AO is a distributed, decentralized, participant-oriented computing system based on Arweave. The core goal of AO is to provide a trustless, collaborative computing service with no practical scale limitations, offering a new paradigm for blockchain-integrated applications. Unlike other high-performance blockchains, AO supports the storage of large amounts of data, such as AI models. Unlike Ethereum, AO allows an arbitrary number of parallel processes to run simultaneously within computational units, coordinated through open messaging without relying on centralized memory space.

Arweave’s launch of AO signifies a step from the decentralized storage track to the broader realm of decentralized cloud services. Its permanent on-chain storage is no longer just for user data but aspires to become the permanent host for cloud computing, focusing on large-scale verifiable computation.

Recently, Arweave also announced the tokenomics between its dual tokens $AR and $AO. According to the official statement, $AO is a 100% fair-issued token with no presale or pre-allocation. The total supply of $AO is 21 million, with a halving cycle every four years, distributed every five minutes, with a monthly distribution amounting to 1.425% of the remaining supply.

Approximately 36% (100% for the first four months plus 33.3% thereafter) of $AO tokens are distributed every five minutes to $AR holders, incentivizing the security of AO’s foundational layer—Arweave. The remaining 64% of $AO tokens are allocated to bridging users, providing external revenue and incentives for introducing assets into AO.

Source: https://ao.arweave.dev/

Bittensor

Training AI models requires substantial data and computational power, but the high costs of these resources mean they are mostly monopolized by large enterprises and research institutions. This centralization limits the use and collaboration of AI models, hindering the development of the AI ecosystem. Bittensor (TAO) aims to establish the world’s first blockchain neural network, enabling network participants to exchange machine learning capabilities and predictions.

Bittensor seeks to facilitate the sharing and collaboration of machine learning models and services through a peer-to-peer approach. Technically, implementing TAO is quite challenging, and it remains some distance from practical application.

Source: https://futureproofmarketer.com/blog/what-is-bittensor-tao

Author’s Perspective

These AI and blockchain projects are likely to transform the future distribution of computational resources. Decentralized ownership and collaborative cross-cluster decentralized regional deployment will pave the way for a new wave of economic and technological advancement. These projects have grand ambitions to change the future landscape of cloud computing and AI applications, shaping a more interconnected, efficient, and innovation-driven global cloud economy. Given the active promotion of productivity transformation by various countries, these development directions are worth exploring in depth. However, this field requires stronger technical support and more funding, meaning the entry barriers for project teams are high. Currently, they are still in the experimental stage, and whether they can become practical infrastructure with real users remains to be seen.

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