A pioneering AI-empowered blockchain project, known as Ambient, is making waves in the crypto world with its ambitious goal of potentially replacing Bitcoin. Co-founded by Travis Good, it has secured a substantial $7.2 million in seed funding from major players like a16z, Delphi Digital, and Amber Group.

Ambient sets itself apart by integrating advanced artificial intelligence into its blockchain infrastructure, positioning itself at the forefront of what Good terms the "future economy." The network's design envisions becoming a decentralized rival to OpenAI, offering a unique proof-of-work mechanism that appeals to traditional bitcoin miners seeking an easy transition.

The fusion of AI and blockchain technology is gaining traction within the crypto sphere, as many believe this combination holds the key to more transparent and beneficial AI development compared to central corporations. With its innovative approach, Ambient aims to address concerns about centralized AI systems powering applications while ensuring transparency and reliability through verified inference mechanisms.

In contrast to conventional approaches in the industry, Ambient leverages mining-based verification processes to authenticate results generated by its AI models. This method safeguards users against potential manipulation or misinformation, a crucial feature emphasized by Good and his team in light of growing cybersecurity threats such as those posed by groups like Lazarus from North Korea.

AI-Infused Blockchain Ambient to 'Replace Bitcoin,' Says Co-Founder

Ambient raised $7.2 million in seed funding from a16z, Delphi Digital and Amber Group.

• Ambient raised $7.2 million in seed funding from a16z's crypto accelerator program and Delphi Digital
• The chain aims to deliver super-intelligent AI quickly, cheaply, and openly.

The support received from renowned investors like a16z and Delphi Digital underscores the confidence in Ambient's vision for reshaping the intersection of AI and blockchain technologies. As the project continues to advance, it stands poised to revolutionize how AI innovations are harnessed within decentralized frameworks for the benefit of all stakeholders.

His answer is Ambient, a blockchain with deep capabilities in the AI space – the "future economy," as Good puts it – that could become a "decentralized competitor to OpenAI." The network operates on a proof-of-work mechanism with familiar appeal to bitcoin miners, he said, making it an easy switch.

"It's a useful proof of work network, which we don't think anyone has ever done well in crypto," Good said.

Many crypto projects have attempted to fuse the two buzzy tech trends on the belief that blockchains and decentralized crowdsourcing can steer AI better toward delivering for humanity than singular, private corporations possibly could.

Ambient raised $7.2 million in seed funding from a16z's crypto accelerator program as well as Delphi Digital, one of the VC world's hungriest funds for crypto-AI crossover tech.

"Everyone in crypto is currently using centralized AI to power their apps, to power their frontend," said Alex Golding, a venture associate at Delphi. He thinks that's a big issue because it deprives users of understanding what the models are trained on and exposes them to getting hoodwinked with answers derived from inferior models.

"Verified inference" by miners (the heart of their rewards mechanism) acts as a provenance fact-checker, ensuring that answers spat out by Ambient originate from the model people paid to use.

"If you don't have verified inference, you're guaranteed to get rugged," Good said, adding a hyperbolic warning: "Nation state actors are going to poison your model and just do fun stuff, like we saw with Lazarus," North Korea's hackers.