NEAR Protocol Unveils Ambitious AI Initiative

The NEAR Protocol team has launched an alpha version of an AI agent that can initiate meme coins and search for goods online for purchase.

NEAR AI Alpha is live at https://t.co/WQeAf2cxWs.

This is our first step towards powerful, privacy-preserving AI to ensure the future of technology is truly owned by everyone.

NEAR AI Assistant (alpha): https://t.co/pg0s0FqNzG

NEAR AI Research Hub: https://t.co/dOB3ayPcGx

— NEAR AI (@near_ai) November 10, 2024

New features such as booking flights and ordering food are expected to be added soon.

NEAR is the blockchain for AI.

In a mission to ensure every individual has control of their data, assets, and power of choice, building a user-owned alternative to Big Tech is our only choice.

Read all the details here:https://t.co/t7zMEZhkik

— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) November 10, 2024

“NEAR is the blockchain for artificial intelligence. We aim for every person to control their data, assets, and right to choose, thus creating a user-owned alternative to big corporations is our only choice,” stated representatives of NEAR Protocol.

Cross-Chain Swaps

The AI assistant supports network abstraction technology, enabling it to exchange assets across different blockchains. The NEAR Intents feature is available for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base. By the end of the year, Solana and TON are expected to be added, followed by Dogecoin, BNB Chain, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and TRON.

The solution can handle exchanges with fiat currencies through a market maker.

NEAR Intents is designed to allow different AI agents to communicate and coordinate actions with each other.

“The AI agent can understand: ‘Okay, I don’t know how to open a Revolut account for you, but maybe there’s an agent who can do it?’ […] One agent tells another: ‘Okay, I’d like you to open a bank account for my user at this price,'” explained Aurora Labs founder Alex Shevchenko.

Afterwards, the AI agents will make an agreement and proceed with payment, while market makers ensure the deal’s completion. They can utilize liquidity from centralized platforms like Binance. Peanut Trade collaborates with the project, and G20 is expected to be added.

NEAR Protocol’s Largest AI Model

NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin presented the AI assistant at the Redacted conference in Bangkok. The team also announced plans to create the “world’s largest open-source artificial intelligence model.”

The goal has changed. Forget a billion. NEAR is onboarding the next Trillion (capital T) AI agents to Web3.

NEAR: The blockchain for AI.

Today, @near_ai launches in Alpha? pic.twitter.com/HYWRGHg8YU

— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) November 10, 2024

“The goal has changed. Forget a billion. NEAR is creating the next Trillion (with a capital T) AI agents for Web3,” the team noted.

The neural network will feature 1.4 trillion parameters, 3.5 times larger than Meta’s current flagship model, Llama 3.1 405B. Mark Zuckerberg’s corporation trained the solution on data from 15 trillion tokens using 16,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs.

The AI’s creation is planned based on “crowdsourced research and development by thousands of participants in the new NEAR AI Research center.”

Polosukhin noted that the costly training and computations of the neural network will be funded through token sales. The project’s cost is estimated at $160 million. Subsequently, cryptocurrency holders will be able to profit from AI monetization.

Polosukhin is one of the authors of the pioneering paper on transformers that led to the emergence of ChatGPT, while NEAR Protocol co-founder Alex Skidanov worked at OpenAI before the chatbot’s release.

Decentralizing AI

Training and maintaining large AI models typically require tens of thousands of GPUs located in one place to ensure fast connectivity.

Polosukhin noted that currently, there is no technology that allows decentralized distribution of computations. However, new research from Deep Mind suggests otherwise.

“This is probably the most important technology now and possibly in the future. And the reality is: if AI is controlled by one company, we will essentially do whatever that company says,” he explained.

Speaking at the conference, former NSA and CIA employee Edward Snowden supported Polosukhin’s view, noting that centralized AI turns the world into a “massive surveillance state.”

Back in July, NEAR Protocol’s co-founder stated that AI systems will not annihilate humanity unless programmed to do so.