EigenLayer, the leading restaking protocol on Ethereum in terms of total value locked (TVL), has entered into a partnership with Ritual, a community-owned artificial intelligence (AI) network, to develop decentralized applications (DApps) powered by AI.
This collaboration aims to bring Ethereum-level restaking security to the Ritual network while integrating AI capabilities into DApps, including smart agents, AI-driven decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, and autonomous media generation. According to EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan, the integration of crypto-economic, AI-powered coprocessors can introduce advanced functionalities to blockchain networks while incentivizing economic participation.
The partnership is timely, coinciding with growing interest in AI solutions within the crypto space, particularly highlighted by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s recent endorsement of AI-powered smart contract auditing to address code vulnerabilities.
Ritual’s flagship product, Infernet, will pioneer the accessibility of AI models for smart contracts, facilitating efficient integration of AI capabilities into DApps. Through this integration, Ritual will develop Actively Validated Services (AVS) to enhance its infrastructure, leveraging EigenLayer’s GPU-capable restakers to support decentralized inference, fine-tuning, and validation within its on-chain economy.
Established in 2023, Ritual offers a network of computing devices for hosting and refining AI models, along with an API layer for secure AI model accessibility. Co-founder Niraj Pant highlights the potential for more efficient and AI-enabled DApps with this integration.
The convergence of AI and crypto has witnessed significant momentum, notably following Nvidia’s strong financial performance in 2023, which propelled AI token market capitalization and spurred a doubling in the market cap of AI-based crypto tokens over the past month.