Ethereum Poised to Decentralize AI, Says Former Core Developer

Ethereum could play a pivotal role in transforming artificial intelligence (AI) into a more decentralized, transparent, and accountable ecosystem, according to former core Ethereum developer Eric Connor. In an April 15 post on X, Connor outlined how Ethereum’s infrastructure could offer critical solutions to AI’s most pressing ethical and technical challenges.

Connor, who left the Ethereum core development team earlier this year to focus on AI-related ventures, said, “Ethereum’s biggest mainstream moment is waiting in the wings with AI.” He argued that AI is rapidly reshaping society but remains deeply flawed due to “black-box models, centralized data silos, and privacy pitfalls”—all areas where Ethereum could serve as a decentralizing counterforce.

Ethereum’s value proposition, according to Connor, lies in its verifiable smart contracts, decentralized architecture, incentive-aligned token economies, and native micropayment systems. These tools can enhance transparency in AI model training and data sourcing while countering monopolistic control by large technology firms.

Connor acknowledged that incumbent AI leaders may resist open-source models, citing profit incentives tied to proprietary systems. However, he emphasized that growing public demand for fairness, transparency, and data sovereignty could drive broader interest in decentralized AI frameworks.

“Ethereum already has the ethos with openness, collaboration, and trust minimization—things that ethical and accountable AI needs,” Connor stated.

The former developer urged the Ethereum community to proactively invest in research, infrastructure, and practical use cases that integrate AI with decentralized systems. “That could deliver mainstream adoption far beyond finance,” he added.

Supporting his view, tech entrepreneur Zain Jaffer recently noted that the next frontier in crypto is likely to be the decentralization of AI. This aligns with emerging industry trends that see AI and blockchain technologies converging in experimental applications.

One such application is agentic AI—software agents powered by AI that autonomously perform tasks and evolve over time. According to a recent Ethereum blog post, the blockchain is uniquely positioned to support these agents due to its transparent, immutable data structures and the ability to execute on-chain transactions and smart contract logic.

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