NEAR at EthCC 2024: Pioneering AI x Web3 

As EthCC 2024 descends upon Brussels, the city’s historic charm provides a captivating backdrop for one of the crypto industry’s most anticipated events. Amidst cobblestone streets and Gothic architecture, NEAR Foundation is set to make waves with its pioneering approach to AI x Web3. This year’s conference promises to be a melting pot of ideas, where NEAR’s forward-thinking vision will take center stage.

The week-long extravaganza kicks off on July 6th with the Open Source AI Summit. Here, NEAR is positioning itself as the home for User-Owned AI. Championing a User-Owned AI future means building a New Internet that democratizes AI development and access, ensuring users, not centralized companies, control AI. By championing this concept, NEAR is set to ignite discussions on how blockchain can revolutionize the AI landscape, putting power back into the hands of individuals and fostering a new era of technological autonomy.

Building on the momentum of the Open Source AI Summit, the spotlight shifts on July 7th to the next-generation modular infrastructure for all layers at Contextualised Connect Brussels by YAP Global. Altan Tutar, CEO of Nuffle Labs, will take center stage before a room packed with media representatives, showcasing Nuffle’s pioneering work on data availability. By leveraging NEAR technology to scale Ethereum L2s, Nuffle demonstrates NEAR Protocol’s versatility beyond its L1 capabilities, blurring ecosystem boundaries and fostering collaboration with tier-1 projects like EigenLayer. This strategic expansion and technological validation position NEAR as a crucial player in the broader blockchain landscape, attracting more developers, users, and collaborations with major projects, thereby extending NEAR’s relevance and utility in the evolving decentralized technology space.

Without missing a beat, on July 9th, EthCC’s main event showcases two game-changing presentations. Illia Polosukhin, CEO of NEAR Foundation, will dive into “Build Your Next Web3 App with AI,” offering a practical roadmap for integrating AI into blockchain development. Following this, Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Aurora Labs, will address “Simplifying Access Across Blockchain and Exchanges,” highlighting NEAR’s innovative approach to interoperability. These talks will demonstrate NEAR’s commitment to advancing AI integration and cross-chain accessibility, positioning the ecosystem at the forefront of Web3 innovation.

Chain Abstraction Day Brussels on July 10th marks the culmination of NEAR’s year-long series, solidifying its place as a cornerstone event at EthCC. Co-hosted with Agoric Systems, this gathering positions Chain Abstraction at the forefront of discussions on interoperability and the future of multi-chain environments. Expect deep dives into the technical aspects of defragmenting and unifying Web3, including infrastructure, data availability, and the role of venture capital. Get hands-on with the latest tools, learn from cutting-edge research, and see real-world applications in action through developer success stories. Live lightning demos will bring the power of chain abstraction to life. This event offers invaluable insights and practical knowledge for everyone, from seasoned blockchain developers to Web3 newcomers, helping you streamline and scale your projects.

Capping off the week, Illia Polosukhin delivers a keynote at Agents Unleashed, where he deep dives into the potential of AI-powered blockchain applications. This summit is designed to unite developers and innovators in the Web3 autonomous AI agent space, offering a comprehensive look at the current use case landscape. Following this, NEAR HZN presents the NEAR AI Tech Showcase on July 11th. This event promises to be a testament to NEAR’s innovative spirit, featuring live demonstrations of AI-powered blockchain applications. Attendees will get hands-on experience with the latest developments from the NEAR ecosystem, seeing firsthand how AI is reshaping the blockchain landscape. Underpinning these developments is the NEAR Horizon AI Incubation Program, a strategic initiative designed to kickstart NEAR’s AI ecosystem. By collaborating with top-tier decentralized AI projects, this program aims to co-design crucial infrastructure that will enable sophisticated AI applications on NEAR. Collectively, these events and initiatives demonstrate NEAR’s commitment to advancing user-owned AI, where intelligence tooling optimizes for individual users and communities rather than corporate profit, unlocking benefits like higher productivity, personalized experiences, and novel economic opportunities.

As attendees move between historic venues and modern conference spaces, they’ll witness firsthand how NEAR is pioneering AI x Web3. NEAR’s presence at EthCC 2024 is more than just a series of presentations – it’s a demonstration of a User-Owned AI future. Putting the power and ownership in the hands of the user unlocks benefits such as higher productivity, better search results, more personalized experiences, and novel economic opportunities that are all privacy-first.