Blockchain startup Aptos and io.net collaborate to decentralize AI access

As more venture capital firms target the quickly developing technology, Aptos Labs, the company behind the Aptos blockchain ecosystem, has partnered with io.net, a provider of decentralized GPU compute solutions, in an effort to decentralize access to artificial intelligence (AI) resources.

io.net and Aptos Labs will work together to produce a suite of AI models and inference products for their eventual distribution on the Aptos network, according to a press release shared with crypto.news. It appears that these next products will use the Aptos network to make payments easier.

According to the news release, io.net chose to expand its partnership with Aptos since their generative AI product, BC8.ai, is currently utilizing Aptos to "process over 500,000 transactions a day." The CEO of Aptos Labs, Mo Shaikh, stressed the alignment of io.net and Aptos in their shared goal of de-risking and decentralizing AI applications on the Aptos platform.

The most recent collaboration from Aptos is in line with investors' growing curiosity in possible blockchain and artificial intelligence synergies. Researchers at the massive cryptocurrency venture capital firm a16z crypto published a study in December 2023 that outlined the main areas in which blockchain technology may support artificial intelligence. In particular, they stressed how blockchain networks may promote multi-sided, global, permissionless marketplaces where everybody can participate, acting as a "counterbalancing force to centralized AI."

In the meantime, venture capital firms are becoming more and more interested in this confluence; in February, almost 25% of all venture funding—a total of $4.7 billion in investments—was given to AI businesses. Crunchbase data shows that this was a substantial rise over the $2.1 billion spent in February 2023 and the $2.2 billion invested in AI businesses in January.