User-Owned AI: On-Chain Training, Inference, and Agents, with NEAR's Illia Polosukhin

Today Illia Polosukhin, founder of Near Protocol joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss the intersection of AI and blockchain technologies, exploring how decentralized infrastructure can enable "user-owned AI" through privacy-preserving model training, confidential computing, and autonomous agents that operate via smart contracts without centralized control.

Check out our sponsors: Linear, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

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Evolution from AI to Blockchain: Near Protocol evolved from an AI project focused on teaching machines to code to a blockchain platform, and now combines both technologies.

Significant User Base: Near Protocol has achieved 50 million monthly active users, demonstrating substantial adoption.

Autonomous AI Agents: Near has developed autonomous AI agents that can operate independently once deployed, including an example of an agent given $10,000 to trade based on Twitter sentiment.

AI-Blockchain Integration: The platform combines decentralized compute for running AI with smart contracts that execute actions, creating truly autonomous systems.

AI in Governance: Near is experimenting with "AI senators" that people can vote for, which then make governance decisions, potentially solving the principal-agent problem in representation.

Jurisdictional Framework: Near is creating infrastructure for jurisdictions and courts to enforce rules on AI agents, essentially putting governance into AI.

Sponsors:

Linear:

Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure:

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is the next-generation cloud that delivers better performance, faster speeds, and significantly lower costs, including up to 50% less for compute, 70% for storage, and 80% for networking. Run any workload, from infrastructure to AI, in a high-availability environment and try OCI for free with zero commitment at https://oracle.com/cognitive

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CHAPTERS:

(00:00) About the Episode

(03:58) From Transformers to Blockchain (Part 1)

(17:01) Sponsor: Linear

(18:30) From Transformers to Blockchain (Part 2)

(21:23) Blockchain Security Fundamentals (Part 1)

(33:36) Sponsor: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

(35:00) Blockchain Security Fundamentals (Part 2)

(39:01) Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Solution

(51:11) Confidential Computing Infrastructure

(58:07) User-Owned AI Models

(01:14:47) Marketplace and Governance

(01:18:57) AI-Crypto Synergy Vision

(01:27:50) Autonomous Agents Future

(01:31:22) Outro