In the latest episode of Hashing It Out, host Elisha Owusu Akyaw engages in an extensive conversation with Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G Labs, about the role of decentralized artificial intelligence (DeAI) in transforming Web3 and the AI landscape in 2025.
The discussion highlights the urgency of decentralizing AI, the potential of AI to simplify blockchain interactions and the challenges of AI alignment.
Foundations of decentralized AI
At the core of 0G Labs’ mission is creating a decentralized AI operating system, a critical step toward transparency and trust in the AI space. This system comprises multiple layers, including decentralized storage, verifiable inference and a service marketplace.
Heinrich compares this infrastructure to a mobile operating system, enabling developers to create diverse AI applications on a foundation designed for decentralization.
“We’ve built an operating system specifically for decentralized AI. Every part of the stack needs to be decentralized to ensure provenance, transparency, and trust.”
The modular approach allows users to pick and choose components —whether storage, computing or full-stack solutions — making it versatile for a range of AI applications.
Why decentralized AI?
A significant part of the discussion focused on the risks of centralized AI. Heinrich warned of the dangers of monopolized AI development by a few corporations, noting how this could lead to unchecked power and potential misuse.
He emphasized the importance of democratizing AI to ensure equitable access and shared benefits, a shift necessary for aligning with human values.
“There’s a large worry that if AI ends up in the hands of a few companies, too much is at stake. We’re trusting that they can align these models with human values consistently, but what happens if they don’t?”
Related: 0G Foundation raises $30M selling AI nodes
AI simplifies Web3 user experience
With the rise of AI agents and various AI applications in the Web3 industry, Hashing It Out, host Akyaw asked the CEO of 0G Labs to explain the hype and pivot to AI in the space.
Heinrich described a vision where AI agents replace time-consuming processes with seamless, automated solutions such as navigating wallets, bridges and swaps.
He illustrated this with an example:
“Imagine you have an AI agent and you tell it, ‘I want to buy this asset.’ It figures out everything for you — what’s the best route and the cheapest way to do it — and executes it in seconds or minutes.”
According to Heinrich, this innovation could make blockchain technology more accessible, paving the way for broader adoption.
The rest of the podcast tackles the challenges in AI alignment with human values and how 0G alignment nodes attempt to solve the issue, use cases for decentralized AI applications and incentivize developers to build AI with Web3 technology.
Listen to the full episode of Hashing It Out on Cointelegraph’s podcast page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your podcast platform of choice. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows.
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