Secure, Citizen-Owned AI Network

Until January 3, 2009, no system in the world was truly secure from a cybersecurity perspective—not Google, Meta, or even the NSA, which had been hacked multiple times. This changed with the advent of Bitcoin and later Ethereum. As of March13, 2024, Bitcoin secures over $1.3 trillion, and Ethereum secures over $478 billion. These platforms, despite being the world’s biggest targets, have withstood penetration tests from individual black hat hackers to nation-states, marking the first impenetrable systems in computer science history. The best way to build a secure and democratic AI network is by leveraging blockchain technology due to its unique attributes:

Sovereign Infrastructure:

Well-designed blockchain protocols provide a fault-tolerant distributed execution engine alongside an immutable audit trail. The decentralization inherent in these protocols is protected through governance mechanisms, fostering a reliable ecosystem that can immutably record activities in a trust-minimized and transparent manner.

Incentive Alignment:

Blockchain architectures drive economic value through robust incentive mechanisms via native assets. These programmable systems allow applications to leverage native assets, issue new digital assets with desired properties, and define their own incentive structures for users. This is crucial for protocols and innovative business models seeking to establish fair pricing and reward distribution mechanisms for customized goods and services.

Transparency and Composability:

Blockchain technology offers open access to users and application developers. Applications built and deployed on blockchain platforms inherit transparency and composability, enabling an ecosystem where applications interact without friction, promoting innovation and availability.

Cryptographic Compatibility:

Blockchains utilize advanced cryptographic techniques to ensure security, verifiability, and programmable privacy. These technologies facilitate the implementation of various cryptographic protocols, such as verifiable computation and identity verification, to meet stringent privacy and security standards. Digital marketplaces must address challenges related to delivery and payments, which require a diverse set of cryptographic protocols, including identity models, commitment schemes, and proof schemes.

Furthermore, blockchains can be owned by everyone, scaling ownership to tens of millions of users, as seen with Bitcoin and Ethereum, leading to far greater wealth distribution. In contrast, OpenAI’s latest valuation is $80 billion, yet none of that value has accrued to its users since it is owned by approximately 600 people, including the team and investors. We believe that with the right incentives, decentralized AI networks can outcompete today’s closed AI systems, just as the Internet outcompeted intranets. Moreover, blockchains enable scalable governance. Although blockchain governance can be messy at times, as evidenced by the Bitcoin block size wars, it remains a far superior system where thousands of participants—developers, users, and investors—can influence progress compared to decisions made by a handful of individuals. This inclusive approach is crucial as we invent a new "species" on this planet; everyone who wishes should have a say in it. In conclusion, large-scale AI deployment should occur on Web3 infrastructure, which has proven to be the most secure to date, enabling user ownership and democratic governance.