🌵 The Intersection of Crypto & AI 🌵

Big Brain Breakdown

One Down, One To Go!

If you missed our space with Willy from Nounspace yesterday, be sure to go back and check out the recording here.

We have another space on later today, hit the link below to set a reminder so you don’t miss it.

• Wednesday 6pm CT: Onchain Outpost <> Morpheus ft. David Johnston

Market Metrics

Total Crypto Market Cap: down 0.2% to $2.528T
Total AI Sector Market Cap: down 3% to $28.6B

Top Movers (24hrs):

📈Forta (FORT): up 14.5% to $0.1848
📈Kizuna (KIZUNA): up 12.6% to $0.0₈682
📈Arbius (AIUS): up 9.9% to $47.40

Daily News

🟠 Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, said that he believes that in the future, AI agents will transact using crypto in a interview with Decrypt late last year. While not a recent article, it is doing the rounds on Twitter and well, we tend to agree.

🟠 Morgan Creek has announced they plan to raise a $500M fund for investing in web3, including AI x crypto.

🟠 GetGrass has announced an invite-only beta for it’s new desktop node, which is significantly more efficient than the desktop version. Node users will also get a 2x boost on their network score. If you are a holder of a Gigabud NFT, you can get access to the closed Beta.
—> We have a spare code for anyone who is interested but doesn’t have an NFT.

🟠 aoTheComputer has announced the protocol has crossed over 180,000 in stETH deposits, worth over $600 million.

🟠 Venice.ai has announced a significant upgrade to their model lineup, with Llama 3.1 405b now available to Pro users. This is the model that Meta released yesterday, which is by far the most sophisticated open-source AI model ever released, beating top closed models like GPT-4o across several benchmarks.

🧠 Big Brain Breakdown

This week’s newsletter is inspired by yesterday’s X space chat with Willy from Nounspace. During the space we briefly covered the topic of AI agents, and how Nounspace could potentially integrate agents into their “fidgets” (AKA Nounspace widgets) so people could interact with them directly from their own personal space.

This sparked some fascinating ideas about the future of personal AI. Considering this week is Morpheus week, it seems fitting to dig into personal AI agents a bit deeper. Morpheus describes itself as being designed to incentivize a peer-to-peer network of personal AI agents—but what exactly does this mean?

WTF do you mean “personal AI agent”?

A personal AI agent isn't just a more advanced version of Siri or Alexa. We're talking about a sophisticated AI that truly understands you, operates on your behalf, and most importantly, belongs to you.

Let's paint a picture of what this personal AI could do for you. Imagine an AI agent that manages your digital life seamlessly. It could handle your email correspondence, suggesting replies based on your writing style and preferences. It might curate your news feed, not based on engagement algorithms, but on your genuine interests and learning goals. When you're planning a trip, it could negotiate with travel sites, compare options, and book reservations - all tailored to your tastes and budget.

Sounds pretty good, right? Well that’s just scratching the surface. Currently, the most well-known AI models are LLMs, which have broad, general knowledge of everything and they do a pretty decent job in most situations. However, “pretty good” isn’t good enough when someone’s life is on the line in hospital or in a legal dispute.

We need specialized models that are really good are niche tasks, and if that’s the world we are heading towards, there will be many AI models that exist that are hyper-niche and incredibly good at one thing. However, it doesn’t make much sense for you to visit 50 different websites and pay 50 different subscriptions to get hyper specific answers from specialized models.

This is where your personal AI agent comes in. Need a complex data analysis for work? Your AI could break down the task, consult with various expert systems, and compile a comprehensive report. Working on a creative project? It could collaborate with AI models specializing in different artistic styles or narrative structures, bringing fresh ideas to the table.

This personal AI wouldn't just be reactive to your requests - it would be proactive. It could anticipate your needs, suggest opportunities aligned with your goals, and even represent you in digital spaces when you're offline. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

However, to make this vision a reality, we need more than just advanced AI technology. We need a fundamental shift in how AI is developed, deployed, and governed. This is where the concepts of open-source, decentralized AI built on blockchain infrastructure come into play.

First and foremost, it's about trust and control. Your personal AI will have access to vast amounts of your data. It will know your preferences, habits, and your deepest thoughts. It will likely know you ever better than you do yourself. Entrusting all this to a closed system owned by a big tech company is a privacy nightmare waiting to happen.

The ideal system is one in which you retain complete control of your data, with your agent only sharing what is required to get the job done. The system must be secure and private, yet also transparent in the right situations. Where are we heading with this? Blockchains, obviously.

Why are blockchains important for this future?

Blockchains have proven themselves as extremely secure systems when managed correctly, and now with zero-knowledge proofs, there is a way to store data onchain without giving away all the details. What’s more, every interaction your AI has with other systems can be recorded on a blockchain, creating an immutable, transparent log. You can see exactly what your AI is doing, what data it's sharing, and with whom. This level of transparency is simply not possible with current centralized AI systems.

Moreover, a decentralized approach allows for a more diverse, innovative AI ecosystem. Instead of a few powerful models controlled by tech giants, we could have thousands of specialized models developed by experts around the world. Your personal AI could tap into this rich ecosystem, using the best tool for each specific task.

Open-source development is crucial here. It allows for community oversight, rapid improvement, and trust. When the code is open for all to see and contribute to, it's much harder for any single entity to insert malicious features or backdoors.

The blockchain doesn't just provide transparency - it also enables a reputation system for AI models. As different models interact and perform tasks, their successes and failures can be recorded immutably. This creates a trust layer, allowing your personal AI to make informed decisions about which models to interact with.

Centralized AI is a Privacy Disaster

Contrast this with the current state of AI in the hands of big tech companies. Their models are black boxes - we don't know how they work, what biases they might have, or how they use our data. They're designed to benefit the company, not necessarily the user. And because they're centralized, they represent a single point of failure for privacy and security.

The decentralized, open-source approach isn't just about creating better technology - it's about changing the power dynamics of AI. It puts control back in the hands of users, fostering an ecosystem where privacy, transparency, and user benefit are built into the very foundation.

Of course, realizing this vision comes with significant challenges. We need to solve complex technical issues around interoperability, scalability, and user experience. We need to navigate tricky regulatory waters. And we need to shift the public perception of AI from a tool owned by corporations to a personal asset compromised of two things that everyone should have free access to: language and mathematics.

But the potential rewards are immense. A future where each of us has our own personal AI agent, operating in a transparent, decentralized ecosystem, could revolutionize how we interact with technology and manage our digital lives. It's a future worth striving for, and one that investors and enthusiasts in the crypto and AI space should be watching closely. The convergence of AI and blockchain technology isn't just creating new tools - it's paving the way for a more open, transparent, and user-centric digital world. Which is why we’re here, and we hope you are starting to see the future we are envisioning too.

Meme of the Day

Hard Rock Nick is back doing crypto cameos!

You know what that means…