0G Foundation secures $30M from AI node sales

0G Foundation has successfully raised over $30 million through the sale of nodes for its decentralised artificial intelligence platform, as reported on January 9, 2025.

The organisation sold nearly 85,000 nodes to approximately 8,500 operators at a price of around $360 per node.

This sale is noted as the second-largest node offering in the Web3 space and marks the third-largest fundraising effort in decentralised AI history, bringing the total funds raised by 0G to about $400 million.

Prior to this, the foundation had secured venture capital funding in pre-seed and seed rounds.

The growing intersection of blockchain and AI continues to attract significant attention from venture capital firms, with an estimated $213 million invested in AI-related startups in the third quarter of 2024.

According to 0G, buyers of the nodes will receive non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that represent their ownership claims.

In return for maintaining the decentralised AI operating system, node operators can earn up to 15% of the total emissions of 0G tokens over the next three years.

“By monitoring AI behavior and detecting deviations from expected protocols or ethical standards, these nodes can help prevent AI from ‘cheating’ or acting maliciously,” stated 0G.

The nodes are also crucial for enhancing the robustness and censorship resistance of the network by distributing control over AI alignment.

Industry experts anticipate that agentic AI will significantly influence Web3 by 2025, with cryptocurrency staking and on-chain trading as initial use cases.

As of December 2024, there are approximately 10,000 AI agents within Web3, generating millions weekly from on-chain activities.

“AI agents are expected to take on a more prominent role within decentralised communities,” remarked J.D. Seraphine, CEO of Raiinmaker.

However, challenges such as regulatory issues and centralisation risks remain prevalent in this evolving landscape.

Michael Casey, co-founder of the Decentralised AI Society, emphasised that without decentralisation, misaligned systems could lead to significant risks.