Exclusive interview with 0G CEO: How to build a 'high-performance, AI-focused, programmable' modular AI blockchain after raising US$35 million

As Layer 2 networks and decentralized artificial intelligence platforms become increasingly prominent, data availability becomes even more critical. Data Availability (DA) refers to the need for block producers to publish all transaction data of the block to the network so that validators can download it. Subsequently, it also brings the issue of data availability, with two key points: security and cost. The first is to ensure that the verification mechanism is carried out safely, and the second is to reduce the cost of publishing data.

In the process of gradual separation of data availability and the main network, another larger long-term trend can also be found, that is the modularization of the blockchain. Modular blockchain solves the various tasks or functions of the blockchain into different layers or modules. This separation allows for improved performance, scalability, and customization. Current competitors in the modular blockchain field include AltLayer, Avail, Celestia, EigenLayer, Fuel, dYmension, etc.

Now, if artificial intelligence is integrated with modular blockchain, what wonderful effects will it produce? 0G, also known as Zero Gravity, is the first modular AI blockchain born under this background. On March 26, 0G announced that it had raised US$35 million in the Pre-Seed round, with investors including Hack VC, Alliance, Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, Stanford Builders Fund, Symbolic Capital, OKX Ventures and more than 40 institutions.

Michael Heinrich is the CEO and co-founder of 0G. He recently introduced the project concept in an exclusive interview with PANews. He discussed the current development progress and future roadmap, as well as more details behind the establishment of the project.

0G’s innovation: high performance, AI focus, programmability

According to the official introduction, 0G is the first built-in universal storage layer with super scalability and decentralization features Data availability systems. The scalability of 0G is determined by the idea of ​​dividing the data availability workflow into a data publishing lane and a data storage lane. Large data transfers occur on data storage channels supported by the storage layer, achieving horizontal scalability through well-designed partitions, while data release channels guarantee data availability properties through consensus on data availability sampling, a process that only requires the transmission of tiny data through the consensus protocol to avoid transaction broadcast bottlenecks.

“To put it more clearly, Michael said that 0G has three characteristics: “We help high-performance DApps launch on the network through the fastest data availability layer on the market. Key innovations are threefold: 1) high performance, 2) focus on AI, and 3) programmability of the data availability platform. "

From a performance perspective, 0G has found a way to scale nodes horizontally in the consensus layer, and also figured out how to scale the consensus layer itself. "This means we are able to provide unlimited data availability and usability Throughput rate. At each consensus layer, we can provide up to 50GB of data availability capacity, which is 50,000 times faster than Danksharding or other methods, and about 100 times cheaper. Therefore, we can truly emulate the cost and performance of Web2. ”

According to him, 0G’s modular AI blockchain will support a series of DApps, including AI, games, high-frequency trading DeFi, DePIN applications, etc. This is a major breakthrough for this field. .

“We can also cover more technology-type innovations in it. Then, focusing on AI is part of the infrastructure, including distributed storage networks. People can use it to store AI models, use DA attributes to provide inference traces for distributed storage networks, and some ML use cases. This achieves a comprehensive solution for data infrastructure, especially built for AI. As time goes by, we will have more and more innovations in this field. "

In addition to the above two features, 0G is also programmable. Blockchains and developers can save their entire state through smart contracts and then load that state later. "When they do this, They can fully customize the length of time it is stored, where it is stored, the types of data used, security attributes, and how much data is backed up they want. Therefore, it is completely programmable according to your needs. These three key innovations set us apart from other data availability layers in the encryption space. ”

Investment institutions are enthusiastic, 20 times oversubscribed

As a start-up company, 0G’s initial financing goal was only a basic goal of US$5 million to develop core technology. But when When 0G selected Hack VC as the lead investor, doors opened immediately, and 0G was oversubscribed 20 times. Attracting over $100 million in investment interest, 0G ultimately partnered with the investors they felt could best help.

“I think the reasons behind this include: the caliber of the team; the space and the potential it brings; the quality of the early investors who came in, who opened the door for other investors to want to get involved . Hack VC was the first term sheet we received, and once they invested, many others quickly followed. "

Michael said that the investment funds received by 0G will mainly be used for marketing and engineering development. These are the two main uses. The funds will be roughly divided equally between these two aspects.

Talking about the reason why the project was originally established, Michael said that he first met Thomas Yao from Stanford University. The two were classmates and became good friends over time. "So I've known Yao for 10 years now. He knew I wanted to build something in Web 3 and AI. So he called me at the end of 2022 and said, 'Hey, a few years ago I invested in a company called For the company Conflux, Ming Wu and Fan Long are two very good people, and they want to start some projects globally, and I think the four of us can form a very strong team.' So we got together, and I spent It took about six months to meet frequently with the co-founders,” Michael said.

The mainnet is expected to be released in Q3

0G was founded last year, about 9 months ago. Now, rather than facing some development challenges, what 0G's technical team is currently doing is focusing on optimization. For them, the challenge they face is more about how to truly optimize every part of the system. For example, the team looked at different erasure coding schemes and found an implementation we modified that was three times faster than any other scheme we had seen.

“It’s less about the challenges and more about optimizing the infrastructure. We’re building it in a very systematic way. We started with a decentralized storage network and then we added the erasure coding component , added a consensus layer component, added KZG commits, and then added data availability sampling as part of the consensus network."

Each of these components requires a lot of optimization. This is where 0G currently spends a lot of time in development. Another area where a lot of time is spent is optimizing the consensus to make it efficient.

Therefore, initially, 0G will only use the existing consensus, but the second phase of the mainnet will use the changed Conflux consensus mechanism. So this will take a lot of time.

There are currently about 30 people in 0G, more than half of whom are engineers. Michael said that 0G's team lineup is very strong, "We have many Olympiad gold medals and informatics competition medals. This is the best engineering team I have ever worked with. So I am really very proud of our team."

Currently, 0G has not disclosed the valuation and token issuance time. The 0G mainnet will be released in the third quarter of this year. “We are trying to get it as early as Q3. We are working very hard to make this possible.”

Michael said this will be the first phase of the mainnet. “We will have multiple phases and will announce in the future the features that will be included in each phase.”

As far as partnerships go, 0G is currently working with some great Layer 2 players in the crypto space, such as Polygon. There will also be cooperation with some artificial intelligence projects, game projects and some DeFi projects. In addition, Michael revealed that 0G will also cooperate with some rollups-as-a-service providers.

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