DePin tracks have their own unique strategies: Will the introduction of AI technology into the smart contract execution layer be widely applied in Web3?
Author: Vanguard 0
Traditional smart contracts have numerous pain points, such as limitations in handling complex logic and real-time data responses, making it difficult to adapt to ever-changing market demands and complex decision-making processes. In response to this challenge, Ritual has emerged. Below is an introduction to the Ritual project.
Recently raised $25 million; Ritual's architecture and philosophy share similarities with the popular DePin
Ritual is a distributed AI computing platform designed to create an "incentive network" that powers distributed computing devices to support various applications of artificial intelligence. Two months ago, on November 8, 2023, Ritual announced the completion of a $25 million funding round, led by Archetype, with participation from Accomplice and Robot Ventures. This funding will help Ritual expand its team, develop its developer network, and further integrate its technology into a broader range of applications. With so many potential investors joining, Ritual's future is worth watching.
Messari: Q4 2023 funding reached $3.83 billion, an 81% quarter-over-quarter increase, with Ritual raising $25 million
By integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technology into the execution layer of smart contracts, Ritual not only significantly enhances the adaptability and intelligence of contracts but also opens up new possibilities for blockchain applications. This innovation allows smart contracts to respond more flexibly to environmental changes, achieving more efficient and precise automated decision-making.
Although Ritual is not directly associated with DePin, both demonstrate a similar spirit and goals in promoting the optimization of digital resource networks and decentralized services. While Ritual has not yet launched its own token, its innovative applications in the field of smart contracts undoubtedly deserve industry attention. As the project continues to develop, Ritual has the potential to bring new breakthroughs to blockchain technology and smart contract applications, making it a project worth closely monitoring.
A recent significant development is that BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has joined the decentralized AI platform Ritual as an advisor. Before joining Ritual, Hayes was not an investor, but his involvement undoubtedly increases the project's visibility and credibility. Although Hayes has not disclosed whether he received any incentives for joining the project, his participation certainly adds more expectations for Ritual's future development.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes
Ritual represents the forefront of the fusion of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI). As an AI-based sovereign execution layer, Ritual is committed to enabling developers to build fully transparent decentralized finance (DeFi), self-improving blockchains, autonomous agents, and generated content. Its core component, Infernet, is a lightweight library specifically designed to introduce on-chain computation, serving machine learning (ML) inference workloads. Users can build and host ML models on Infernet, deploy them to Infernet nodes, and utilize the inference outputs of on-chain smart contracts along with optional succinct execution proofs.
The Infernet SDK provides a critical bridge for the integration of Web3 and AI, covering data preprocessing, training, model support (such as scikit-learn, HuggingFace), and validation (including zero-knowledge proofs and optimistic fraud proofs). By flexibly applying the Infernet SDK, developers can integrate AI models into their protocols, applications, or smart contracts, enabling model fine-tuning, monetization, and inference.
A strong professional team forms the core members of Ritual and provides lasting intellectual support for the project
Ritual's progress and development benefit from a team of experienced professionals with deep expertise in distributed systems, cryptography, and artificial intelligence. This team not only has a long-term vision and commitment to the field of cryptographic technology but also possesses rich experience in helping to build and invest in several well-known companies across various industries. Facing new challenges and opportunities, this team is actively engaged in exploring and developing this emerging field.
Introduction to the Ritual team
In addition to the internal team's expertise and experience, Ritual also benefits from the support and guidance of its advisory team. This advisory team includes several experts with significant influence in the fields of blockchain and artificial intelligence.
Among them, Illia Polosukhin, as a co-founder of NEAR Protocol and co-creator of "Attention is All You Need" (Transformers), provides valuable insights for Ritual's development in blockchain technology;
At the same time, Sreeram Kannan, as the founder of EigenLayer and an associate professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Washington, offers strong support for Ritual in terms of technical depth and academia;
Additionally, Tarun Chitra, as the founder/CEO of Gauntlet and a partner at Robot Ventures, provides guidance for Ritual in business strategy and market positioning through his business insights and industry experience.
By combining the technical expertise of the internal team with the industry experience and vision of the advisory team, Ritual is able to steadily advance in exploring and implementing new directions for blockchain technology. This collaboration and pooling of resources lay a solid foundation for Ritual's future development in the fields of blockchain and artificial intelligence. As the project progresses, the efforts of this team and its advisors may have a positive and far-reaching impact on the entire field of cryptographic technology.
The future of AI technology + distributed applications is unpredictable; Ritual's continuous innovation capability will impact DePin-related tracks
Ritual's competitive advantage and potential in the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency are evident. AI has become a dominant force in today's technology landscape, and its combination with cryptocurrency has attracted widespread attention from capital.
In this field, we have already witnessed significant market performances from AI oracle projects like Autonolas (token Olas) and AI-focused public chain projects like Tau (token AGRS), achieving astonishing increases of 559.3% and 2560.0%, respectively. These figures not only signify market activity and prosperity but also highlight the immense potential at the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency, indicating that this field may become a new hotspot for investors.
Considering Ritual's innovative technology, professional team, top-notch advisory support, and strong funding background, the project clearly possesses significant advantages in this competitive landscape. By integrating AI into the execution layer of smart contracts, Ritual not only enhances the efficiency and flexibility of contracts but also brings deeper intelligence and adaptability to blockchain technology. This technological breakthrough provides Ritual with strong competitiveness, allowing it to stand out in the field of AI and cryptocurrency integration.
As AI technology continues to advance and the cryptocurrency market matures, Ritual has the potential to become a leader in this track, or "Alpha." Its success will depend not only on technological innovation and market performance but also on its ability to continue attracting widespread participation from investors, developers, and users, while continuously innovating and adapting in this rapidly changing market. If Ritual can continue on this path, it will undoubtedly play an important role in the field of AI and cryptocurrency integration, bringing new opportunities for investors and users.