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0G Labs - The First Decentralised AI Operating System

There’s no longer any doubt—Artificial Intelligence (AI) will, and already is, reshaping society in profound ways, and all metrics seem to indicate that we are only at the beginning of this new era. While AI remained a niche area of R&D for many years, its real breakthrough came with the arrival of ChatGPT. We all remember how mind-blown we were when we first interacted with this generative AI bot. Looking back, it is fair to agree that it was an “iPhone” like moment.

No wonder how it had the fastest adoption among consumer products in history, scaling to 100 millions users in 2 months. In contrast, it took Facebook 1500 days to reach the same user count.

user growth over time

Since then, it seems we are witnessing exponential growth in this field and in the upcoming years, it would not be surprising to witness the emergence of several multi-billion-dollar companies in both applications that leverage AI or infrastructure that makes the AI revolution possible. In fact, funding in this area has already started to boom.

Crypto and AI are a good fit

But alongside AI, blockchain technology is also undergoing significant technological advancement and given their respective properties, it is fair to assume that those two main deep technology trends of the past decade have a lot of synergies to be unlocked. While crypto is not necessarily essential in every layer of the AI stack, it makes complete sense for blockchain to be the substrate for AI. Those potential integrations could truly help to build a global framework for a more decentralised, transparent, and secure AI - one that is fairly owned and monetised by users rather than being dominated by centralised, opaque institutions.

Ai and blockchain synergis

From a theoretical point of view, all those potential Crypto x AI synergies are super interesting, and the market was excited about them. Indeed, AI was the most hyped crypto sector of the past year, accounting for over 20% of all mindshare and discussion on social media, and we’ve also witnessed a first wave of new projects trying to tackle this opportunity.

kaito analysis on project theme

However, we haven’t seen many breakthroughs beyond theory yet, and we believe that there is a new wave of Crypto x AI projects hitting the market that is more mature and with a better chance to scale and reach organic product-market-fit. 0G labs is part of those, and that’s why we are excited about this project.

Overview of 0G Labs

0G gets its name from 'Zero Gravity,' personifying the ultimate goal of achieving a state of weightlessness where transactions and data exchanges can occur effortlessly on a blockchain. In that sense, 0G is building the first global decentralised AI operating system (dAIOS) that manages decentralised hardware resources such as storage, computation, and data availability. The main goal behind that: To make AI a public good.

Similar to Microsoft or macOS, which are the operating systems that power the most successful Web2 technology companies in existence, 0G aims to become the operating system that offers the substrate for the decentralised AI movement to thrive—one that is infused with the ethos of Web3. Hence, this includes overcoming the limitations of centralised AI, such as:

  • Ownership: Centralised AI often sells or misuses personal data, with users having little control or ownership over how their information is collected, stored, or used.
  • Transparency & Accountability: Centralised AI operates as black boxes, with opaque decision-making processes and no clear data provenance. Users who provide training data rarely receive adequate rewards for their contributions, and the system lacks transparency in how value is distributed.
  • Monetisation: Centralised AI monopolises profits and leaves little incentive for individual contributors. 
  • Alignment: Centralised AI systems lack oversight and governance processes, with a select group having all authority.

The 0G stack

The tech architecture of 0G is designed to address the issues mentioned above by supporting distinct aspects of AI workflows simultaneously. This is achieved through four core components: 0G Storage, 0G DA, 0G Serving, and 0G Chain.

0g stack
  • 0G Storage: This is A decentralised network built to handle massive data loads efficiently and securely. By using erasure coding, the data is split into smaller, redundant pieces, ensuring security and accessibility even in the event of system failure. 0G Storage is maintained by a network of miners who are incentivised to store and manage data through a unique consensus mechanism known as Proof of Random Access (PoRA). Miners are periodically challenged to confirm that they actively store specific data chunks. 
  • 0G Data Availability (DA): This is an infinite scalable and programmable data availability layer that provides seamless access and verification of data for end-users. This works by leveraging randomly chosen Data Availability Nodes through a Verifiable Random Function (VRF), preventing any potential malicious activity. These nodes come to consensus on the availability of data and communicate with the 0G Consensus network for final verification. By allowing new networks to be added and managed by the same validators, 0G enables infinite scalability while maintaining efficiency and security, making it ideal for decentralised applications that require reliable data. 
  • 0G Chain: On top of the storage and DA layer is the 0G chain. This is a highly scalable, AI-optimised L1 blockchain designed to meet the needs of data-heavy applications. Built with a modular architecture, it allows for the independent optimisation of key components like consensus, execution, and storage—making it ideal for AI-driven workflows. 0G is fully EVM-compatible, so decentralised applications (dApps) already deployed on other L1 or L2 chains (such as Ethereum or rollups) can easily leverage 0G's products without needing to migrate entirely.
  • 0G Serving: This is the framework that supports AI model inference, data retrieval, and training tasks, allowing real-time interaction with decentralised AI applications. It ensures secure, automated payments for services like data processing or computation, distributed across the network for optimal efficiency. Through the decentralisation of both services and settlement, 0G Serving provides a scalable and trustless alternative to centralised AI platforms.

Ecosystem of partners

0G has managed to build an extensive ecosystem with a strong list of important partners across the Web3 space: from AI, DeFi, to Gaming, or other infrastructure layers.

0g ecosystem

Team and Investors

0G Labs is composed of top-notch talent and leaders with well-rounded expertise in entrepreneurship and blockchain. Here is an overview of some of the most notable figures behind the project:

  • Michael Heinrich - Co-Founder and CEO
    Michael is a serial entrepreneur who founded two unicorns, including a top Y Combinator company. Beyond that, he is a strong leader with previous experience at Bridgewater, the largest hedge fund, where he worked under Ray Dalio's management principles. Moreover, he has led teams of over 650 people and has extensive experience in startup investing. This is the definition of top-notch talent.
  • Ming Wu - Co-Founder and CTO
    Ming Wu holds a PhD in computer architecture and has previously spent over 17 years in research at Microsoft. He then stepped into the blockchain industry and became the CTO of Conflux before becoming the CTO of 0G Labs.
  • Jake Salerno - Head of Business Development
    Jake has a deep expertise in both blockchain and business development. He has previously worked at ChainLink for over two years and led the company’s go-to-market strategy.
  • Tiffany L - VP of Ecosystem and Partnerships
    Tiffany has over 12 years of experience leading global teams and previously worked at Ava Labs as Head of Growth and has been a project manager at Apple. At 0G Labs, she specialises in go-to-market strategy, partnerships, and brand visibility.

Movoer, the team also managed to raise over $35 million in early 2024 to secure a healthy runway. Notable investors include Delphi Ventures, Hack VC, Animoca Brands, Bankless Ventures, and others.

Alpha opportunity: AI Alignment node

The 0G AI Alignment Node is a type of node which monitors the functionality of 0G’s nodes (DA, Storage, Serving, Validator nodes), identifies malicious data injection, and supports AI model training by reducing drift. By running a node, participants contribute to:

  • Checker functionality: Ensuring that other nodes (DA, storage, validator, serving,etc.) within the 0G ecosystem are functioning properly.
  • AI Model training: Detecting AI model drift which may occur during training. 
  • Decentralization: Ensuring the 0G network remains decentralized and resilient.
  • Identification: Identifying corrupt or malicious data, AI agents/networks, API price feed mismatch so that timely intervention can occur prior to onchain execution. 
  • Security: Enhancing network security by verifying transactions and keeping AI accountable.
  • AI processing power: Supporting AI computations and enabling on-chain AI services.

To reward node operators for their contributions to the network operations and security, 15% of the $0G token supply will be allocated and distributed to these operators over a period of 36 months.

Valuation and Scenario Analysis

To estimate the potential return on investment of running a node, it’s important to understand that rewards are influenced by the proportion of nodes actively running and performing correct validation. For this estimate, we’ll assume that 50% of the total 0G AI alignment nodes will be sold out and operational. Based on this, here is a potential return simulation at the end of the full distribution period:

0G return simulation
0G Return simulation

Comparative study

While there are no direct comparables to 0G, we can use similar projects that are already live and successful to estimate different scenarios for the potential FDV of 0G.

comparative study
Comparative table

Tokenomics

0G Tokenomics

FAQ

What are the terms of the 0G Labs Alpha Deal?

All terms can be found here .

What is a Borger Journey Camp and how do I know which camp I am?

Your Borger Journey Camp is found under the Profile section of the SwissBorg app. Any Camper is eligible for exclusive benefits, among others access to Alpha Early Deal, including the 0G Labs node sale.

Can you tell me more about rewards? How and where will I receive them?

By investing in this vault, you become eligible to receive 0G Foundation token rewards for 3 years after the token generation event (TGE). The rewards will be distributed according to the vesting period which is undetermined at this moment. The rewards will be deposited into your SwissBorg account.

What happens to the node NFT after three years?

SwissBorg will sell the NFTs at the best price possible at the end of the period, and the proceeds will be distributed to the investors. Please keep in mind, however, that we expect the value of the NFTs to be lower compared to today.

Are node holders eligible for node airdrops?

Yes, after SwissBorg receives an airdrop from tokens / NFTs belonging to its users, it will redistribute it to the users.

How often will the 0G tokens from Nodes be distributed?

Distribution will occur on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the vesting period of the rewards.

Is the investment in Token or Node?

You are investing in an 0G AI Alignment Node.

Does a successful investment provide you with the option to host your own node?

No. SwissBorg’s partner will operate and manage all the nodes, so investors do not need to worry.

Is there a min/max investment per user? How much is it?

Yes, all vaults always have a minimum and maximum investment. Minimum investment for all vaults is 1 0G node. The price per node can be found on the Term Sheet (link ) and is paid in USDC.

What pools are available in terms of allocation?

There will be Diamond, Gold, Silver and Bronze vault available depending on your Borger Camp. More info in the term sheet .

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