Acurast, a decentralized network that uses everyday smartphones as secure computing nodes, has officially activated its 225,000-node smartphone computing network on Base. This is a major advance in bringing sensitive, on-chain artificial intelligence (AI) to mainstream Web3.
The integration with Base, an Ethereum layer 2 chain designed to make decentralized applications faster, cheaper, and more scalable, enables developers to run sensitive AI workloads directly on-chain using millions of smartphones around the world.
Instead of relying on centralized infrastructure, this network uses a trusted execution environment (TEE) built into mobile devices to securely perform sensitive tasks, protect user privacy, and maintain verifiability.
Smartphones are the new cloud
Acurast set out to build a distributed computing layer by leveraging the billions of smartphones already deployed around the world. While traditional cloud providers have centralized servers that carry the risk of censorship and data leaks, Acurast’s model distributes workloads across devices in more than 140 countries, running sensitive AI inference tasks all within a secure hardware enclave.
Jesse Pollak, creator of Base, said:
“Base aims to give builders the best place to bring new ideas on-chain. Acurast is expanding that surface area by introducing decentralized confidential computing powered by smartphones. This will enable developers to run AI workloads on Base that are secure, verifiable, and independent of centralized infrastructure. This is the type of infrastructure that will help move autonomous, real-world applications fully on-chain.”
The network just went live on Base’s mainnet following a token generation event and is already securely handling production workloads.
Alessandro De Carli, founder of Acurast, said:
“When AI agents are tasked with managing real assets on-chain, they can’t rely solely on centralized servers. By leveraging smartphone-based TEEs, we are enabling verifiable, decentralized, and confidential AI that is owned by the users who power it.”
Sensitive AI, Native Payments
A key part of this integration is the computing payment mechanism.
Acurast now supports native $USDC Payments can be made on Base’s network without the need for bridging or off-chain payment layers. By adopting the x402 payment standard (originally developed to enable instant payments for HTTP-native stablecoins), AI agents can autonomously make payments for computing resources in real-time.
This opens the door to a pay-per-request model in decentralized services, where AI agents can automatically settle fees. $USDC when processing tasks. This is a critical building block for autonomous Web3 applications that interact with APIs, data services, and complex on-chain logic without intermediaries.
A new layer for on-chain AI workloads
Developers using Acurast on Base can use the Base wallet to onboard devices and manage their computing infrastructure through Acurast Hub.
Within the hub, builders can deploy secure autonomous AI agents, such as bots, that execute trades, manage assets, and perform on-chain adjustments. This occurs while the input and output remain encrypted and invisible to the node operator.
All AI inference is performed within the smartphone TEE. This means that neither the device owner nor outside observers can access sensitive data during processing. This is key for privacy-focused applications in finance, identity, and enterprise workflows.
Beyond the data center
The move comes on the heels of Acurast’s strong growth. In fact, distributed computing networks expanded rapidly throughout 2025, moving from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of phones supporting Web3 workloads.
Acurast is driving the development of large-scale confidential computing that integrates decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN), on-chain AI, and real-time machine-native payments.
With native tokens now traded on major exchanges and global networks running live production jobs, Acurast aims to lay the foundation for a new class of on-chain applications that are decentralized, verifiable, confidential, and autonomous by design.
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