Digital Currency Group (DCG) has introduced a new subsidiary, Yuma, to accelerate decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) innovation.
Focused on supporting the development of the open-source Bittensor (TAO) network, Yuma aims to provide startups and established businesses with the resources needed to build projects in the rapidly converging cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence sectors.
Yuma, named after the consensus algorithm that powers Bittensor, is a key player in the development of decentralized AI infrastructure. The company currently has a team of 25 employees and operates as the third-largest validator on the Bittensor network. Yuma aims to reduce reliance on centralized machine learning models and encourage “bottom-up” development by providing capital, technical expertise, and operational support.
Bittensor is a decentralized, blockchain-based machine learning protocol where users contribute computational power to train AI models. Participants are incentivized with TAO token payments. The network allows for independent subnets, allowing computational power to be focused on specific AI challenges.
“Just as Bitcoin revolutionized the digital ownership of assets, we are now moving to decentralized ownership of intelligence,” said DCG founder Barry Silbert, who will serve as CEO of Yuma.
Silbert predicts that Bittensor will enable a wave of decentralized innovation similar to the early internet: “Just as OpenAI, Meta, and Google created walled gardens for AI, Bittensor is encouraging a Cambrian explosion of subnetworks. Over the next two decades, we expect new disruptors like Uber and Airbnb to emerge that build on this permissionless innovation.”
*This is not investment advice.
