Gradient Secures $10M War Chest to Supercharge Solana Protocol Development
Solana's ecosystem just got a turbo boost—AI infrastructure player Gradient lands eight-figure funding to build next-gen protocols.
The cash infusion comes as Solana cements its position as the chain for high-performance decentralized applications. Gradient's tech could solve the blockchain trilemma... or just add another layer to the crypto hype machine.
Wall Street analysts were overheard asking if this was 'another NFT monkey JPEG play' before remembering their firms invested heavily in similar vaporware last cycle.
Decentralizing AI
Parallax tackles the problem of how to run massive AI models without massive data centers. The protocol dissects large language models into smaller pieces that can run simultaneously across multiple devices. Instead of sending data to OpenAI's or Amazon’s servers for processing, Parallax would let the computation happen on a network of participating devices, keeping user data local.
To be sure, critics have raised concerns that coordinating tasks across thousands of devices introduces complexity and that network latency remains a challenge for decentralized systems.
But the company says its distributed approach and technology could slash costs compared to traditional cloud computing while addressing privacy concerns. When AI models run on centralized servers, user queries and data get transmitted to and processed by those servers. Gradient's system would process data closer to where it's generated.
Gradient Network operates on Solana's blockchain, chosen for its high transaction speeds and low costs compared to other networks. The blockchain handles the coordination and payment mechanisms for devices contributing computing power to the network.
The startup joins a growing field of companies attempting to decentralize AI infrastructure. Competitors include SingularityNET, which focuses on creating a marketplace for AI services, the Superintelligence Alliance network and various projects building on different blockchains. Bittensor and Gensyn have pursued similar distributed computing models, though with different technical approaches.
Gradient said it will release additional protocols beyond Lattica and Parallax, though it hasn't specified what these might include. The company also mentioned plans to publish research papers and open channels for developers to contribute to the project.
Edited by James Rubin
