- Gensyn has raised $43 million in a Series A funding round led by a16z.
- The UK-based company’s protocol allows developers to build AI systems with on-demand payment on smaller data centres and personal computers. It utilizes a cryptographic verification network to ensure the correct completion of machine learning work.
- The funding will be used to accelerate the protocol’s introduction, expand the workforce, and make AI infrastructure more accessible.
Gensyn, a blockchain-based computing resource provider for artificial intelligence platforms (AI), has raised $43 million in Series A funding led by venture capital firm a16z.
Gensyn was founded in 2020 by Ben Fielding and Harry Grieve.
The protocol developed by the UK-based company allows developers to build AI systems on smaller data centers, personal gaming computers, and other connected hardware while paying on demand. Gensysn employs a cryptographic verification network that allows users to determine that machine learning work shared over the protocol has been completed correctly without intermediaries.
According to Ben Fielding, Gensyn’s Co-founder, in a press release, “The realization of its (AI’s) potential requires huge computational power; we’re harnessing the electricity of a new age and making it available to everyone at unlimited scale and fair market prices.”
Fielding stated that such widespread access is “essential” for avoiding “dangerously biased technology serving the many but built by the few.” The key to proper, aligned AI is allowing everyone in the world to contribute to its development.”
Harry Grieve, co-founder of Gensyn, in the press release, also noted, “With decentralized networks, the value simply accrues to the network as a function of supply and demand.” “It also sharply increases the amount of computer supply by connecting previously underutilized hardware from around the world,” he explained.
The announcement coincides with a surge in interest in artificial intelligence, which has the potential to transform the way businesses in various industries, including media, retail, manufacturing, and financial services, operate. Nvidia, a computer chipmaker whose products are essential for the graphics processing units (GPUs) at the heart of AI systems, was valued at $1 trillion last month.
Gensyn has raised over $50 million in its latest round, and the company plans to use the funds to accelerate the protocol’s implementation and expand its workforce, including the addition of protocol and machine learning engineers.
The funding round led by a16z saw participation from several angel investors and crypto venture capitalists, including Protocol Labs, CoinFund, Canonical Crypto, and Eden Block.
Ali Yahya, a16z crypto General Partner, said in a statement, “The recent advancements in AI are incredible, but substantial computational power requirements give big technology companies an advantage over startups in the race to capture AI’s value. “We believe nobody combines the knowledge and cultural understanding of AI and crypto cypherpunk worlds better than Gensyn. We look forward to partnering with them to make infrastructure for AI much more widely accessible.”
