Decentralized AI (deAI) and Crypto: Innovation in Finance and Beyond

Just as software has transformed almost every industry, AI is now evolving on top of that software, and it is expected to infiltrate every aspect of our lives at an even faster pace.

"Software has eaten the world, and now AI is eating software."

— Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA (2017)

The Potential of DeAI in Decentralizing Centralized AI

As AI rapidly advances, businesses and governments are competing to secure computing resources and data. However, the risk of AI becoming centralized under a few large corporations is also growing. In response, blockchain technology is emerging as a potential "solution" to mitigate the centralization issue of AI.

 Blockchain’s transparency, immutability, and ownership definition have the potential to improve AI systems and decentralize power concentration. Some argue that "AI could become the raison d'être for crypto," suggesting that blockchain could provide a foundation to decentralize not only finance but also AI.

This report explores how, as AI becomes increasingly important in the global economy and daily life, blockchain can offer a balance to centralized AI.

AI Industry and Centralization Issues

Modern AI has evolved into large language models (LLMs) and multimodal models since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, with a few big tech companies leading the way through funding and cloud infrastructure.

This has raised concerns about AI monopolies. On the other hand, blockchain is gaining attention as a foundation to decentralize AI resources (data, compute, algorithms) through decentralized networks and incentive structures.

The Encroachment of Internet Public Goods

Internet activity data and computing resources have become concentrated in the hands of big tech companies, creating a situation similar to the historical "enclosure" of public resources. Blockchain offers the possibility of decentralizing this, returning public goods to the people.

What is Decentralized AI (DeAI)?

DeAI refers to the concept where AI development and operation are carried out by a decentralized network, rather than a central authority. While centralized AI involves a single organization controlling a model, DeAI involves multiple entities cooperating and competing, sharing AI authority.

Structure: App (Agent, dApp) → Framework (Development Tools) → Infrastructure (Decentralized Data, Computing, Algorithms).

Core Elements of DeAI

AI consists of data, compute, and algorithms.

• Data: Filecoin (IPFS-based decentralized storage), Arweave (permanent storage), etc., support decentralized data storage.
• Compute: Render (decentralized GPU), AIOZ (Edge AI computing) replace centralized cloud computing.
• Algorithms: Bittensor (PoI-based rewards for model development) promotes decentralized AI model collaboration.

Conclusion

Just as Bitcoin disrupted the centralization of the financial system, blockchain has the potential to mitigate the risks of AI centralization.

As AI becomes more integrated into our lives, the monopoly over data, compute, and algorithms could lead to significant issues.

DeAI projects such as Filecoin, Render, and Bittensor are already growing and have a high potential to play a role in decentralizing AI power.

As competition in AI intensifies, DeAI will gain more attention as an alternative to the concerns of centralization.