Blockchain Powers $25 B Decentralized AGI Drive, Shielding Innovation From Big Tech

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Rachel Wolfson

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Rachel Wolfson

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Rachel Wolfson has been covering the cryptocurrency, blockchain and Web3 sector since 2017. She has written for Forbes and Cointelegraph and is the host and founder of Web3 Deep Dive podcast.

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April 20, 2025

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Advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are driving the growth of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

AGI is a theoretical AI system with capabilities that rival those of a human. Many researchers believe we are decades away from achieving AGI, but we may be closer than we think.

Findings from Verified Market Research in March show that the AGI market size was valued at $2.74 billion in 2023. This number is projected to reach a whopping $25.74 billion by 2031.

A Framework To Address AI Development Concerns

While AGI may be beneficial, a number of concerns exist. A survey conducted by the Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) Alliance found that 48% of respondents believe that AI is being developed only to benefit big technology companies.

The majority of surveyors also mentioned they feel a lack of control when it comes to AI development. In addition, two-in-five respondents remain worried that current AI development is not transparent or accountable to the public.

Dr. Ben Goertzel, founder of SingularityNET and CEO of the ASI Alliance, told Cryptonews that he has created an initiative to address the growing concerns around AI development.

Known as “The Ten Reckonings,” Dr. Goertzel explained that this framework is a call to confront the fundamental ethical, societal, economic, and existential challenges currently presented.

“As AGI moves from speculation to reality, these Ten Reckonings represent the urgent conversations humanity must have now,” he said.

For example, the second bullet point of the Ten Reckonings asks if AI will be controlled by very few, or the masses. The document notes that Big Tech dominates development, leaving major questions about ownership, access and accountability unanswered.

“Centralized AI, dominated by Big Tech and Large Language Models (LLMs) with closed source code, secret training methodology and plagiarized training data, is not the only path forward toward AGI and arguably not the most promising,” Dr. Goertzel said.

Dr. Goertzel pointed out that decentralized AGI development must be pursued instead. He noted that the ASI Alliance is demonstrating that decentralized AGI development is not only possible, but underway.

“By removing AGI from the control of a few powerful players, decentralization allows communities, independent researchers, and everyday people to help shape how these technologies evolve,” Dr. Goertzel remarked. “This democratization ensures that AGI develops in ways that reflect a broader set of values, not just corporate profit motives.”

How Decentralized AGI Is Achieved With Blockchain

While decentralized AGI is still in its infancy, serial entrepreneur, inventor and physicist James Tagg, told Cryptonews that he is advancing the concept.

“We are concerned that human assets, our ideas and our very brains will be gobbled up by the magnificent 7 — the large US tech companies — decentralizing intellectual property rights (IPR) ownership may protect against this,” Tagg said.

In order to ensure this, Tagg explained that his team is working to encode human intellectual property rights (IPR) onto a blockchain network to prove ownership. This includes human DNA, transcriptome and general ideas.

“If you want AI to be ‘owned by all’ the blockchain is the only way we know of to avoid the data being captured by one government or corporate actor,” Tagg noted. “The data itself (or the hash of the data if it is private data) is distributed and cannot be censored or ceased.”

Dr. Goertzel added that blockchain underpins the decentralized infrastructure for AGI that the ASI Alliance is building. He explained that “ASI Chain” will launch in testnet this month and in mainnet in Q3 2025.

“This is a key example being developed as the first real AI blockchain infrastructure, enabling decentralized coordination and governance,” he stated. “Blockchain ensures transparency, immutability, and equitable participation across the AGI ecosystem. While serving as a technical layer, it’s also what enables a community-driven AGI future rather than a monopolized or oligopolized one.”

Challenges With Decentralized AGI and Blockchain

While decentralized AGI is essential, a number of challenges remain. For example, Tagg pointed out that security is a concern with the model he is building.

“We are fundamentally putting human data DNA and ideas onto the blockchain and this needs to be protected for privacy and protection,” Tagg said. “Blockchains are mostly public and immutable — the public element helps enforce the immutability — but our personal data needs to be private and this is the challenge we are solving.”

In addition to privacy concerns, Zoltan Istvan — a transhumanist pioneer who also works with Dr. Goertzel — told Cryptonews that he thinks AGI will advance to find new methods to transfer information.

“Blockchain is not necessary for all AI use cases, but it’s functional, and unlike other methods of computational functionality that we currently have. But the reality is that AGI will probably find better methods to communicate and transfer information,” Istvan said.

Decentralized AGI Development Remains Underway

Challenges aside, Dr. Goertzel remains confident that decentralized AGI will prevail. He shared that the ASI Alliance is currently launching multiple new products that showcase this next phase.

For example, ASI Alliance’s “Qwello researcher process” will demonstrate how neural-symbolic AI that combines knowledge graphs and LLMs can lead to more intelligent and creative systems.

“These technologies are tangible proof that AGI can be decentralized, more powerful than LLMs alone, and open to community participation,” Dr. Goertzel said.

Tagg added that the company he founded, Valis Corporation, is demonstrating decentralized AGI through a new biocomputer being built consisting of bundles of human brain cells called organoids.

He explained that the biocomputer emulates a small human brain and can be used for two purposes.

“It is a new type of computer that processes information in a different way to a CPU or GPU and it is an actual model of our brain we can use to test drugs and therapies,” he stated.

Tagg hopes this model will provide society with a different type of thinking machine and a new way to test drugs and therapies on a small copy of a patient’s brain.