Decrypting the Decentralized AI Cloud Platform OORT: How to Build a Fair and Transparent Development Environment?
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Decrypting the Decentralized AI Cloud Platform OORT: How to Build a Fair and Transparent Development Environment?
OORT's vision is to build a trust-centric ecosystem that ensures the fairness and inclusivity of AI technology.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsOORT's Vision: Delivering Trustworthy AI for Humanity
Since 2023, AI technologies such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and OpenAI Sora have significantly impacted our lives. However, little is known about how these systems collect and use data or the potential biases they may contain.
Imagine an AI application primarily trained on data collected from a specific group—this could unintentionally lead to bias, favoritism, or disadvantages for certain populations during decision-making. To prevent this, it’s essential to train AI using diverse datasets drawn from varied communities. Only then can AI become fair and inclusive.
As these technologies increasingly integrate into daily life, trust becomes paramount. Just as humans build trust by interacting and understanding each other's capabilities and strengths, we must also establish trust in AI. This requires examining how AI works, ensuring it uses unbiased data, and incorporating diverse perspectives throughout its design. Emphasizing transparency and diverse inputs is crucial to building AI that everyone can trust and benefit from.
While continuously advancing technological innovation, OORT has a clear and concise vision: to build a trust-centric ecosystem where humans and AI can thrive together.
OORT's Mission: A Decentralized Cloud Platform for AI
OORT is a decentralized AI cloud platform founded in May 2021. Our network leverages global resources ranging from data centers to edge devices and integrates a proprietary blockchain-based validation layer. OORT offers a suite of services including data collection and annotation, data storage, and model training. We aim to empower AI developers through a decentralized network, laying the foundation for more equitable and efficient AI applications.
Specifically, OORT introduces a new, open, and transparent approach to developing AI applications, covering critical stages such as data collection and labeling, model training, and fine-tuning. By involving the community at each stage, we make AI more understandable and foster collaboration from the outset. Our goal is to democratize and popularize the AI development process, making it more inclusive and building public trust in AI products through active participation.
Figure 1. Centralized AI | All stages are fully controlled by tech giants, completely opaque to the public.
How Centralized AI (CeAI) Works
First, let’s examine how centralized AI operates. Companies like OpenAI and Google develop and run their AI systems in a centralized manner using their own data centers, with no external visibility into the process. Users have no insight into how different stages of AI development proceed or how data is used for model training.
Figure 2. Decentralized AI | Every stage involves community contributions, with full process transparency
How Decentralized AI (DeAI) Works
In contrast, OORT redefines every stage of AI development using blockchain technology, as illustrated in Figure 2.
Data Collection
Anyone around the world can share data via personal computers or smartphones and receive rewards.
Data Preprocessing
Users can help preprocess data—such as labeling data for AI projects—using smartphones and computers. Once processed, the data is uploaded to the OORT decentralized cloud platform, and the dataset’s “hash” is stored on the blockchain.
Model Design
Community members collaboratively create AI models, enabling anyone to use and innovate upon them, making innovation easier and more accessible.
Model Training and Fine-Tuning
AI engineers can access an underutilized global computing network at lower costs than services like AWS or Google Cloud. More importantly, timestamps and datasets used during training are recorded on our blockchain, enhancing transparency and accountability.
Model Deployment
Instead of relying on large servers like AWS to deploy AI models, application and software developers can now deploy models directly on their own devices—such as smartphones and PCs. This enables offline usage of AI applications, ensuring personal data remains secure and is not transmitted to third parties. By leveraging household devices, users gain flexibility and convenience in accessing AI tools anytime, anywhere.
OORT Products
OORT aims to help developers build AI in a transparent, decentralized, and trustworthy way. Unlike closed AI systems, OORT’s products encourage community participation. This means users are no longer passive observers but active contributors driving AI advancement. We strive to democratize and diversify artificial intelligence. As of June 2024, OORT has served over 10,000 enterprise and individual clients globally, including Dell, Lenovo Print, and Binance Smart Chain.
Provides datasets for AI projects, contributed and preprocessed by the global OORT community. Integrated blockchain technology ensures every step is clearly and permanently recorded.
Integrates global storage servers including Seagate and Tencent Cloud, offering a decentralized object storage solution with performance comparable to Amazon AWS S3, reducing costs by up to 60%.
OORT Compute
Aggregates and utilizes GPUs from around the world to deliver superior cost-efficiency for AI model training and inference. Scheduled for launch in 2024.
OORT's Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePin)
OORT’s decentralized infrastructure forms the foundational layer for its products. The OORT DePin network consists of two main components: physical device nodes distributed worldwide that provide storage and computing power, and the OORT Mainnet (Olympus Protocol), which connects these devices and ensures their secure and reliable operation through protocols.
Three Types of Physical Nodes in OORT
The OORT DePin network comprises three types of physical nodes:
- Super Nodes: Servers from OORT partners such as Seagate and Tencent Cloud. These handle tasks like AI model training and large-scale data storage.
- Archive Nodes: Nodes from networks like Filecoin and Arweave responsible for cold data storage, primarily used for backing up AI datasets.
- Edge Nodes: Personal devices owned by users, such as OORT-customized "Deimos" edge devices, laptops, and PCs. These manage local data storage, preprocessing, and running AI models for rapid decision-making.
Olympus Protocol (Mainnet)
The Olympus Protocol is a public blockchain protocol developed by OORT, available for any interested organization or individual to use. Technical details and performance specifications are documented in the Yellow Paper. Olympus employs a U.S. patented consensus algorithm called "Proof of Honesty" (PoH), which connects global nodes within the OORT DePin network. This algorithm ensures all nodes complete assigned tasks honestly and transparently while dynamically optimizing and utilizing network resources in a distributed manner.
Learn more about the Proof of Honesty consensus algorithm.
Token Economics
OORT has a native utility token for its protocol network. This token is used for product payments, staking to earn rewards, and enabling community members to participate in project governance.
Paying for OORT Products: Users can pay for OORT products using fiat currency via credit card. However, paying with the OORT token provides additional discounts.
Staking: Currently, users can stake OORT tokens in two ways:
- Deposit tokens into staking pools to earn rewards, including DeFi, OORT Earn, and DEX liquidity staking pools.
- Delegate tokens to node providers via bonding pools (e.g., OORT Boost), where node providers use them as collateral for network nodes. You will receive a portion of the mining rewards from the node provider.
Governance: OORT encourages community members to propose suggestions and make beneficial decisions for the project, such as setting product fees or establishing community rules. Specifically, if a user wishes to submit a proposal, they must deposit a certain amount of tokens. If the proposal passes, the tokens are returned; otherwise, they are distributed to node providers supporting the OORT network.
OORT's Competitive Advantages in Decentralized AI
The decentralized AI space is highly competitive across various sectors including AI data management, model training, and algorithm development. What sets OORT apart?
- OORT provides a one-stop, democratized platform for AI project development, offering all necessary resources for the entire AI application lifecycle, with a strong focus on low cost and transparency.
- OORT’s three products work seamlessly together to deliver optimal AI development outcomes and enterprise-grade performance experiences.
Investors and Team
As of January 2024, OORT has raised $10 million in total funding. Institutional investors include Taisu Ventures (the venture arm of Emurgo - Cardano), Red Beard Ventures (a fund backed by A16Z and Animoca Brands), Angelist, Trinity Venture Capital, Linkvc, and Waterdrip Capital, along with individual investors from JP Morgan, Columbia University, Cornell University, Ausum Ventures, and ISKER Group. OORT has also received support from Microsoft and Google.
Headquartered in the United States, OORT’s core team members hail from renowned institutions such as Columbia University, Qualcomm, AT&T, and JP Morgan.
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