AI is a powerful tool that can benefit mankind in many ways. However, the trajectory of AI under corporate monopolies could lead to a concentration of power. This would exclude most stakeholders and prevent them from influencing its future. Which is the most effective way to move forward? The best way forward?
OpenAI, which was first launched in 2015 with the aim of enabling a new generation of AI applications. “benefit all of humanity” Open source and nonprofit are the best approaches. Yet, less than a decade (and much leadership turmoil) later, its pivot to a for-profit model — driven by a pressing $6.6 billion debt to investors — has made it clear that corporate interests, not collective benefit, are increasingly shaping AI’s development. It is part of a wider movement: today’s most influential AI organisations are increasingly tightly-controlled, profit driven and opaque.
These changes may be justified from a commercial standpoint but AI’s future should not rest with just a handful of powerful companies. This shift to private-investor-driven AI could have dystopian effects, as it would exclude grassroots developers and users from being able to contribute meaningfully.
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Decentralized, community-led AI projects are essential to counteract this trend. This would be an alternative that allows AI to remain safe, accessible and unbiased, while reducing the negative impact of profit driven initiatives. “black box” models.
Today, AI development is dominated by a few major players — OpenAI-Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia — all racing toward monopolization. By controlling critical parts of the AI stack — models, training data and applications — companies can maximize profits, keeping revenues and innovation tightly siloed.
The cloud infrastructure owned by Amazon and Google is the main source of compute and storage power needed for AI system training and deployment. This centralization comes at a steep cost: According to Akash Network, grassroots developers will spend over $679 billion on cloud computing in 2024 — already unaffordable for most small-medium players, with costs likely to rise as demand grows.
Within Big Tech’s walled gardens, users are given limited, conditional access to AI tools and APIs — often at exorbitant prices. AI development is now a game of winner-take-all, and corporate interest will compromise ethical concerns in the short-term for immediate profits. Jan Leike noted that OpenAI has recently disbanded its Superalignment group, suggesting safety and responsibility are being put on the back burner in favor of high-profile launches.
The best way to combat BigAI’s monopoly is through decentralization. Incentives and incentives are available to encourage user communities, developers, and other stakeholders in AI. KIP Protocol, for example, has pioneered the decentralized ownership model of AI. Individuals can contribute to the AI stack by providing data to train models without having to create the models. It lowers the entry barrier, and crypto-based payments rails allow non-intermediated profits to be shared among all stakeholders.
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Akash Network’s decentralized market offers storage and computing resources at a cost that is roughly 80% cheaper than the centralized provider. Flock.io, for example, is already using Akash’s infrastructure to provide decentralized AI-training.
Nansen claims that DeFi is most active in the decentralized infrastructure projects (DePIN). Initiatives like NodeFi allow end users to monetize their excess computing or storage capacity on personal devices. The projects that are in this field can go to the next step by giving node-owners governance rights.
The funding trends are a reflection of this. Decentralized AI projects are drawing attention from investors, with AI startups raising 30% of total funding in Q3 2024 — an impressive $52.2 billion, according to Stocklytics. Blockchain AI startups like Wire Network or OpenGradient are emerging alongside more traditional AI companies. This gap in AI between decentralized AI and centralized AI is a huge opportunity for growth.
This funding influx is more than a mere financial trend. It signals a shift of industry priorities to decentralized alternatives. Decentralized AI is a viable, appealing alternative to BigAI. It promises an inclusive, equitable, and accessible future. BigAI has a frantic pace to achieve dominance. Now is the right time to promote decentralized alternatives. No turning back.
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