In a revealing conversation with Crypto Briefing, Chris Donovan, the Chief Operating Officer of the NEAR Foundation, shed light on the ambitious goals of Near Protocol, especially its initiatives towards the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the web3 ecosystem to foster widespread adoption, among other significant subjects.
Originating as an AI project before transitioning to blockchain technology, Near Protocol identifies the amalgamation of web3 and AI as holding considerable promise. Donovan highlighted the paramount importance of an open web ethos where individuals possess control over their data and assets and partake in governance. He voiced concerns over the development of AI within closed, profit-centered environments, suggesting it could usher in dystopian scenarios. “We think that if someone doesn’t do this in the right way, and we feel very well positioned to do it for all the reasons we discussed, the open web might not be something that’s achievable,” Donovan expressed, underlining the critical nature of their mission.
The Near Protocol benefits from the expertise of co-founder Ilya Sutskever, a transformative figure in the realm of transformer technology and co-author of the pivotal research paper “Attention Is All You Need.” This background positions the protocol advantageously to pioneer in the intersection of AI and web3. Donovan teased that the coming months would bring announcements demonstrating how the ecosystem is preparing to embrace this intersection.
Emphasizing the necessity of fostering AI within an open, decentralized framework, Donovan pointed out the risks associated with closed, profit-oriented development models. He argued for the establishment of an environment conducive to open AI development, supported by an economic system that ensures its sustainability. “If you want to guarantee an open web, you also have to guarantee an environment where AI can be developed in a truly open and irrevocably open way, and it needs an economy around it to sustain that openness moving forward,” he stated.
Focusing on enhancing user experience, Near Protocol is advancing chain abstraction and account aggregation. This initiative aims at creating a single access point for diverse web3 experiences and incorporates Fastauth technology to facilitate easy onboarding, mirroring web2 processes. This technology enables users to set up an account through face scanning and engage in transactions across any blockchain. Donovan is optimistic about such large-scale consumer applications driving mass adoption. He mentioned Near’s ecosystem, including dapps like Sweat Economy, Cosmos, and PlayAmber, which boast millions of monthly active users. Donovan believes in a non-zero-sum approach to achieving mass adoption, with Near’s strategy positioning it favorably in this pursuit.
On the strategy front, Near has concentrated on user acquisition, particularly targeting web2 projects that can scale effectively due to their established business models. Donovan made it clear that Near’s ecosystem is open and permissionless, welcoming a diverse array of founders and builders. He showcased the protocol’s appeal by pointing out web2 companies like Cosmos, which migrated its payment infrastructures to Near for enhanced efficiency and reduced costs. The protocol is also seeing engagement from web3-native projects, such as Hot wallet, which achieved over 5 million users within three months of launching.
A significant technical achievement highlighted was Near Protocol’s maintenance of 100% uptime since its mainnet debut, attributed to its scalable, sharded layer-one blockchain architecture. Donovan contrasted this with other blockchains experiencing congestion and significant transaction failures. “Whenever we see potential congestion arriving, the core development team is able just to create a new shard,” he explained. This capability to dynamically manage network load through shard creation ensures smooth operations and minimizes transaction failure risks, thereby contributing significantly to the user experience essential for mass adoption.
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