DCG's Barry Silbert unveils decentralized AI venture to fund Bittensor projects

Photo: David A. Grogran

Key Takeaways

Barry Silbert launched Yuma, a subsidiary focused on Bittensor’s decentralized AI network.
Yuma supports projects using AI to earn rewards on the Bittensor network with the $TAO token.

Digital Currency Group (DCG), led by Barry Silbert, has announced the launch of Yuma, a new company dedicated to fostering innovation and development on Bittensor, a decentralized AI network.

Yuma aims to provide startups and enterprises with the resources needed to create, train, and access artificial intelligence in a decentralized ecosystem.

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At the heart of Bittensor’s decentralized ecosystem is its native $TAO token, which drives participation by incentivizing contributors.

The token rewards individuals for supplying computing power and evaluating the quality of work on the network, ensuring the system remains efficient and collaborative.

Bittensor incentivizes tasks such as text translation, data storage, and protein structure prediction while promoting a transparent and equitable alternative to centralized AI systems dominated by tech giants.

“Just like the early days of Bitcoin, which fueled the development of a new form of transparent, borderless money, we’re moving from the digital ownership of assets to the decentralized ownership of intelligence,” Silbert said.

The company offers two partnership models: an accelerator program for startups and enterprises, and a subnet incubator for building new projects from scratch.

The company has already partnered with several firms through its early subnet incubator program, including Sturdy, Masa, Score, and Infinite Games. It also collaborated with Foundry to launch the S&P 500 Oracle subnet.

Bittensor co-founder Jacob Steeves added, “We created Bittensor to offer a competitive alternative to the top-down world that limits access to high-powered AI capabilities.”

DCG made its initial investment in Bittensor in 2021, and its asset management arm, Grayscale, has since launched both a Bittensor Trust and a decentralized AI fund, with Bittensor comprising 21% of the latter.