The Rise and Innovation of AI Layer 1 Blockchain Platform

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, traditional Blockchain architectures can no longer meet the high-performance computing and complex data processing requirements of AI applications. This has led to the emergence of Layer 1 Blockchain platforms optimized specifically for AI, which exhibit diverse characteristics in terms of technical architecture, application scenarios, and business models.

This article provides an in-depth analysis of five leading AI Layer1 projects: Bittensor, Vana, Kite AI, Nillion, and Sahara.

Bittensor: Decentralized AI Network Infrastructure

Bittensor, as a pioneer in the Blockchain AI field, is committed to building an open decentralized artificial intelligence collaboration network. Its goal is to break down the centralized barriers in traditional AI research and development, allowing more participants to contribute and benefit together.

Bittensor adopts a dual-layer structure design:

• Root Network (Mainnet): Responsible for the coordination, verification, and issuance management of the TAO token in the entire system.
• Subnet Ecosystem: Each subnet focuses on developing specialized solutions for specific AI application scenarios.

Ecological Development Progress

• The number of subnets has expanded to over 64, covering various AI application scenarios such as text generation, trading signals, and data labeling.
• The number of active users has reached 140,000, doubling compared to the previous year.
• The total valuation of the subnet market exceeds 100 million USD, with a daily trading volume maintained at around 45 million USD.
• Institutional participation has significantly increased.

Bittensor's recent upgrade of the dTAO (Dynamic TAO) system is an important innovation in its economic model. The core of this upgrade lies in optimizing the distribution mechanism of the token TAO, shifting towards a more market-oriented distribution mechanism.

The currently most active subnets include:

• Subnet 4 Targon: Focused on AI inference services for text generation
• Subnet Chutes No. 64: Provides API interfaces for various LLMs
• Subnet 8 PTN: Focused on the financial sector, generating trading signals
• Subnet No. 52 Dojo: Focus on Data Annotation

Vana: Data Sovereignty and Value Reconstruction Platform

The Vana project focuses on solving the issues of ownership and value distribution of personal data. It establishes an ecosystem where users truly own and control their own data, while also being able to derive economic benefits from it.

The technical architecture of Vana consists of five core components:

1. Data Liquidity Layer
2. Data Portability Layer
3. General Connection Group
4. Non-custodial data storage
5. Application Ecosystem

Latest developments

• In February 2025, received strategic investment
• Data projects covering multiple fields have been constructed.
• Recently organized a hackathon event to encourage developers to build DataDAO and AI applications based on Vana data.

Kite AI: Technological Breakthrough of AI Native Blockchain

Kite AI is a native Layer 1 Blockchain project focused on the AI field, built on the Avalanche framework. It proposes four core technological innovations:

1. PoAI Consensus Mechanism
2. Composable AI subnet
3. AI Native Execution Layer
4. Decentralized Data Engine

Development Status

• Launch of the incentive testnet on February 6, 2025
• The test performed brilliantly after going online, with the number of connected wallets exceeding 1.95 million.
• The project background is strong, with the core team coming from top tech companies and universities.
• Received support from multiple top-tier institutional investors
• Establish a partnership with Avalanche to promote the development of the AI application ecosystem.

Nillion: Cutting-edge Exploration of Privacy Computing

Nillion redefines the handling of sensitive data through its unique "blind computation" technology. It integrates multiple cutting-edge privacy protection technologies, including multi-party computation, fully homomorphic encryption, and zero-knowledge proofs.

Latest Development Progress

• The mainnet is scheduled to launch in March 2025.
• Completed a $25 million financing, with total financing reaching $45 million.
• Establish integration relationships with multiple mainstream blockchains
• Establish partnerships with multiple projects in the AI ecosystem

Sahara AI: A platform for building a new economy of AI assets

Sahara AI aims to build a "human-AI collaboration network" that allows various participants to engage in the creation, deployment, and monetization of AI assets.

Latest development progress

• The testnet has gone through several important stages.
• The public testnet named "SIWA" will be launched on March 10, 2025.
• The roadmap for the 2024-2025 fiscal year has been announced, including several key milestones.
• Launching an incubator program to support AI x Web3 innovative projects

AI Layer 1 is currently in a critical stage of rapid evolution, with these platforms restructuring the underlying architecture of AI technology to build a more open, transparent, and efficient technological ecosystem. In the future, this track will continue to drive technological innovation and promote the development of artificial intelligence towards a more decentralized and collaborative direction.