- The aim of this initiative is to establish a connection between university research and a scalable infrastructure of open artificial intelligence systems.
- Workshops, hackathons, student scholarships, and open source projects are also part of the initiative, which will last four years.
Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) and decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company Zero Gravity (0G) have announced a partnership worth S$5 million to establish a joint research hub for the advancement of blockchain-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make it more accessible and accountable.
Multiple initiatives exploring consensus mechanisms for distributed artificial intelligence training, blockchain integration model coordination, and proof of useful work will receive funding as a result of this milestone, which represents 0G’s first global university partnership.
The aim of this initiative is to establish a connection between university research and a scalable infrastructure of open artificial intelligence systems. These systems are different from traditional AI systems, which are closed and controlled by private companies.
For example, rather than artificial intelligence systems running on closed servers where processing and results are invisible, blockchain technology allows each step of the process, from training phase to output, to be recorded and verified.
Michael Heinrich, CEO and co-founder of 0G, and Professor Louis Phee, NTU’s Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, jointly announced the research center today.
“Open and trusted AI relies on a decentralized and accountable foundation,” Professor Phee said. “NTU has built world-class expertise in blockchain systems, cryptography, and computing. By working with 0G, we aim to design the next generation of innovative AI stacks that enable global participation and transparency for everyone.”
The $40 million seed round of investment was led by Hack Ventures with participation from Delphi Ventures, OKX Ventures, Samsung Next, and Animoca Brands. 0G recently revealed that it has received more than $325 million in funding.
“Our mission is to make AI a public good,” said Michael Heinrich, CEO and co-founder of 0G. “By partnering with NTU, we are collaborating with world leaders in blockchain and computing research to move beyond centralized AI monopolies. Together, we will build an open ecosystem where developers, institutions, and communities can contribute, verify, and audit.”
Professor Wen Yonggang, who is also NTU Graduate School Dean and Associate Professor of Graduate Education, and Dr. Ming Wu, co-founder and chief technology officer of 0G, will work together to ensure the success of the collaboration.
Their team will work on developing a decentralized computing architecture and a secure marketplace for artificial intelligence that rewards participants for making data and computing resources available.
Workshops, hackathons, student scholarships and open source projects will also be part of the initiative, which will last for four years and aims to develop the next generation of decentralized artificial intelligence talent in Asia.
It is expected that an initial proof of concept will be developed within the first two years with pilot applications focused on the financial, healthcare, and smart infrastructure sectors.
NTU’s School of Computing and Data Science and its Center for Financial Computing Technology (CCTF) will be responsible for providing research leadership in scalable model training, artificial intelligence governance, and blockchain-enabled security frameworks.
The agreement positions Singapore as a center for the development of open and trusted artificial intelligence and also paves the way for future international cooperation in the field of distributed intelligence.
Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) is a public university with a strong focus on research. We enroll 35,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs including business, computing and data science, engineering, humanities, arts, social sciences, medicine, science, and graduate studies.
NTU is also home to a number of major research centres, including the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the Nanyang Environmental Water Research Institute and the NTU Energy Research Institute (ERI@N). NTU is also home to a number of world-renowned autonomous institutions, including the Singapore Center for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering, the South Rajaratnam School of International Relations, and the National Institute of Education.
With the help of the NTU Smart Campus Vision, universities can leverage the power of digital technologies and technology-enabled solutions to improve learning and living experiences, discover new knowledge, and promote resource sustainability.
Often ranked among the best universities in the world, the university’s main campus is also frequently ranked among the most beautiful campuses in the world. Well-known for its commitment to sustainability, NTU has achieved the level of Green Mark Platinum certification for all of its eligible building projects. In addition to its main campus, NTU has a medical campus in Novena, Singapore’s medical district.
0G is the first decentralized artificial intelligence protocol (AIP) purpose-built to enable a future of fully democratized intelligence. As a modular and infinitely scalable Layer 1, 0G enables distributed artificial intelligence applications to run at scale. Integrate high-performance distributed storage, compute, and data availability (DA) to support next-generation AI-native use cases. With 0G’s verified artificial intelligence processing and permissionless agent ecosystem, we are establishing the foundation for an open and unstoppable artificial intelligence economy.
