Crafting the Future of Democratized AI Through Public Goods Funding
TLDR
- NEAR Foundation is contributing $70,000+ towards funding AI public goods via quadratic funding on the Potlock Platform.
- Applications are currently open and the matching round will occur for 2 weeks from June 1st — June 16th
- This is open to any project or institution building open source AI or ethical AI research and will be facilitated by Edge (edgeintelligence.xyz).
In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as the most funded and arguably the most transformative sector in recent years. At the forefront of this revolution, platforms like OpenAI’s (aka ClosedAI) ChatGPT have captured the public’s attention and investor interest alike, showcasing the vast potential of AI technologies. These advancements are not confined to isolated sectors; they are reshaping industries across the board, with perhaps the most significant impact being felt in the realm of Web3.
The Significance of AI in NEAR Protocol
The intersection of AI and Web3 is creating a new paradigm for digital interaction and ownership. AI is enhancing the capabilities of blockchain technologies, enabling more sophisticated smart contracts, enhancing security through pattern recognition, and facilitating more natural interactions with decentralized applications.
NEAR has had a long history of contributing to the open AI research field. During Illia Polosukhin’s time at Google, he co-authored the paper “Attention is all you need” that gave birth to the Transformers or the “T” in ChatGPT. Since then Illia has been touched by Jensen, the founder of Nvidia.
NEAR AI Nexus: A Central Location for On-Chain Agents
Advancing AI through R&D
Established in 2023 in San Francisco, Edge is pioneering research and development at the forefront of the AI revolution. Founder Era Qian advocates for digital empowerment and individual control over data and technology infrastructure, and started Edge with a commitment to open, autonomous, and user-centric intelligence, with an emphasis on the decentralization of AI computing. By supporting innovation for the creation of technology stacks to empower users, Edge makes strides in AI advancements that reshape our digital future. With core tenets that advocate for the use of open source technology for collective progress, sovereignty for individuals over their digital assets, and the promotion of edge intelligence to redefine digital infrastructures interactions, Edge promotes self-governance over personal data and assets.Why NEAR Foundation is All-In
NEAR Origins
At NEAR’s onset in 2017, both founders, Illia and Alex recognized that the processes of collecting, pricing, and sharing data created significant obstacles to the evolution of AI. Originally starting as NEAR.ai, they created a data labeling marketplaces. However, due to the price of micropayments across both traditional payments processors and blockchains at the time, they realized in order to democratize foundation infrastructure for the future of AI’s development they needed to build a. Thus, NEAR Protocol was born.
By embracing decentralization, NEAR reinforces its commitment to supporting open-source and ethical AI research, doubling down on a vision for a future that prioritizes digital empowerment and individual sovereignty with regard to digital assets, identity, and data.
Elevating the Open WebStack: Integrating AI for a Smarter Internet
In Illia’s 2023 deep dive into AI on NEAR, he elaborates on a 5 major use cases of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in a decentralized future:
- Marketplaces: Open the access to LLMs and deep learning models by enabling monetization for the creation, maintenance, and distribution of models that are usually costly to run and train.
- Language Defined Experiences: Prompt-based AI frontend creation and customization upheld by openly accessible source code, democratizing access to APIs and smart contracts to all account holders.
- Content Management System & On-Chain Reputation: Implements provenance tracking for all created content — text, articles, quotes, images, videos — to tackle issues of false attributions and inappropriate content. This approach ensures content authenticity and traceability, enhancing user control with community governance and an on-chain reputation system.
- Governance: Emphasizes transparent and proactive AI management and monitoring by crowdsourcing public datasets for model evaluation, and then utilizing an aligned AI model to direct research funding, and enable public, traceable research discussions.
- Crowdsourced Data Labeling: Establishes a marketplace that rewards contributors for high-quality data labeling, crucial for training accurate models.
To support the growth of this flourishing sector, financing is an aspect that NEAR is openly interested in to ensure the preservation of user sovereignty.
Overcoming Funding Barriers in Open AI Development
Raising capital for open-source AI projects is fraught with challenges. These include concerns about monetization due to their open-source nature, intellectual property issues, and questions regarding long-term sustainability. Additionally, the competitive AI landscape, combined with regulatory uncertainties and ethical dilemmas, adds further complexity.
Moreover, the technical intricacies and scalability of such cutting-edge projects can make it difficult to secure investment, as backers often seek clear paths to profitability and market dominance. These hurdles require open artificial intelligence initiatives to not only demonstrate innovative technology but also to articulate a compelling, sustainable business model to attract funding.
Here’s how Edge and Potlock come into play.
Quadratic Funding: A Game Changer for AI Innovation
Potlock offers a pivotal solution to the funding hurdles of open-source AI projects by leveraging quadratic funding. This innovative approach democratizes support, enabling anyone to contribute to the projects they care about, regardless of size. By emphasizing community backing over traditional profit potential, Potlock ensures that projects with genuine community support receive the funding they need to grow and hit their metrics.This community-driven system addresses key concerns such as monetization, ownership rights, and the long-term viability of projects. Essentially, Potlock is about pushing innovative AI projects forward with the power of collective support.
About the Round
Applications are live for AI projects to register on Potlock’s public good registry and then apply to the quadratic funding round. The AI Round matching period occurs for 2 weeks from June 1st — June 16th following up with a 1 week challenge period. Since the pot is deployed, the matching pool is also open for new sponsors for anyone to grow the pie. This follows right after the NEAR sponsored Funding the Commons SF focusing on AI Public Goods.
The funding round will be conducted by Edge Intelligence, utilizing the Quadratic funding model through Potlock, the platform dedicated to funding public goods on NEAR Protocol. We are actively encouraging projects that are at the Intersection of open AI projects that emphasize governance, research and the intersection of Web3 to apply as an AI public good into the round. This funding initiative is just the start of a long-term commitment to fostering a solid ecosystem of open-source and ethical AI innovations. Through collaboration and a shared vision for the future, the NEAR Foundation, Edge Intelligence, and the broader AI community are laying the groundwork for a future where AI is by the people, for the people.
About Potlock
Potlock is an open source end to end funding stack, and the first public goods funding platform on NEAR Protocol. Potlock enables different funding strategies like direct donations with on-chain referrals and quadratic funding with more to come. Built on BOS, PotLock intersects DAOs and Web3 social (docs)
How to Get Involved
Join the Potlock community to stay connected and informed! You can find us on Telegram, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or NEAR Social. For more in-depth updates, consider subscribing to our newsletter. Additionally, if you’re interested in more DeAI development, visit Edge Intelligence.
