AI and computing resources: IO and Aethir's innovative business model

Author: 0xTodd Source: X, @0x_Todd

It just so happens that two AI concept projects, $IO and $ATH, have held TGEs one after another recently, so I want to talk about it briefly.

In the final analysis, this is a very classic business model:

First, let's talk about a scenario. On the left hand are some AI startups, and some game rendering companies. I'm talking about startups, not those very mature big companies, such as openAI. On the right hand are people with a lot of graphics card resources, hoping to make use of those idle graphics cards, such as 4090, 3090, A100, H100.

AI startups use these idle graphics cards, which can not only bring benefits to those who have graphics cards, but also be lower than traditional quotations. So, if there is now a platform that connects these needs and resources in series, a classic platform business model is born.

So @ionet and @AethirCloud, two platforms, discovered this market opportunity, and they are ready to build platforms to "introduce" idle graphics cards to AI or rendering companies. This is meaningful in itself, because these AI companies may not be able to purchase a large number of graphics cards on their own.

First, these AI companies do not want to purchase a large number of graphics cards themselves, because the cost is too high. They prefer to be able to rent graphics cards flexibly at any time. Secondly, graphics cards are still in short supply internationally, and there are even some embargoes. Therefore, many companies are forced to choose some overseas third-party white gloves to do transit, which also brings a lot of costs and gray space. Therefore, a decentralized facility is very important, which is also the market demand discovered by the two projects IO and Aethir.

However, the problem of "which came first, the chicken or the egg" still needs to be solved. AI startups are willing to join because they must first recognize that there are a lot of graphics card resources on the platform, and people with graphics cards are willing to hang on the platform because they must first believe that there will be a lot of orders.

However, if the platform starts from scratch, without many graphics cards and companies, it will be very difficult to start. So, this is why these companies or platforms need Crypto, because Crypto can help them break this cycle.

IO chose a route of having "chickens" first. It doesn't matter if there are no orders, token subsidies can first accumulate graphics cards. They launched the Ignition Plan, and at its peak there were hundreds of thousands of graphics cards hanging on IO.

This is also the meaning of the existence of a decentralized computing power platform with a token model. Many people may ask, these coins are not enough for subsidies, do they have any meaning or function in themselves?

IO and Aethir have both chosen a conventional and effective approach. Their future platforms will of course support the use of fiat currency or stablecoins as payment, but they also thoughtfully provide the option of paying with IO tokens or ATH tokens, which can waive some fees.

I think this is a good choice. It does not force users to use their own tokens, and at the same time brings some functions to their own tokens. Whether it is a 2%, 3%, or 5% discount, it is also a good thing. This will also encourage those users who need to pay to hold these tokens in disguise. Regardless of whether it will be realized in the future, this is a very good thing for chip dispersion.

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In terms of building an ecosystem, IO and Aethir have different ideas. The Aethir team has adopted another idea, because there are many AI classification platforms now, and as far as I know, there may be no less than 20. So how to gain an advantage in the competition?

Aethir previously sold a virtual mining machine called CheckerNode, and then sold Edge mining machines. This method is very effective in maintaining the basic base of the community. Because when many people have some sunk costs here, they will focus more on this community and are not easy to leave.

Whether it is buying a virtual mining machine CheckerNode or a physical mining machine Edge mining machine, once it is sold, it is not easy for users to migrate to other platforms. Therefore, in the bull market, time and progress are everything. Aethir chose a similar idea to the horse racing and enclosure, first circle everyone into the community, which is also a very effective way of playing.

What does CheckerNode do? Then Aethir assumes a scenario: these idle graphics cards may come from all over the world. Compared with the computer room, this has a disadvantage, that is, the stability may be affected. People who are familiar with network architecture may know this.

So it adds a new role. Originally, the left hand is the person with demand, and the right hand is the person with equipment. He added a third party, the role of the inspector, who constantly checks the working status of the graphics card and the order processing status, and obtains tokens through inspection.

In tokenomics, ATH leaves part of the distribution of tokens to the inspectors. CheckerNode is a virtual mining machine, which made many people join this ecosystem in the early stage. This is an effective market idea. The market response is indeed very good. According to official data, CheckerNode has sold more than 100 million US dollars on Arb, which is a very strong result.

At the same time, many people also like real mining machines, so Aethir launched the Edge mining machine. The Edge mining machine is a physical mining machine that can be bought and placed at home. This approach is to meet the needs of different customer groups. Some people need virtual mining machines, and some people need physical mining machines. Aethir has gained a certain advantage in the competition by launching these products.

Both projects are computing power platform projects, which will be easy to cooperate with the outside world, because in the future, they will both make a standardized product such as graphics cards. This may also be the reason why GPU computing power standardization companies like Dbunker @Dbunker_Network can cooperate with both companies. Because they are all dealing with graphics cards, many people say that graphics cards are the oil of the new era. This metaphor is quite good. Dealing with such standardized products also allows them to have a wider scope of cooperation.

The last difference is that IO is a SOL ecosystem. Of course, as we all know, Aptos has also invested in it, so it is also very likely to be on Aptos. Aethir is mainly on Ethereum and Arbitrum. The ATH token is on Ethereum, and CheckerNode is on Arbitrum. So from the perspective of ecology, the two projects vaguely have a kind of independent governance and divided spheres of influence.

But coincidentally, the two projects themselves have cooperated, and the two even have intimate "token swaps", which makes the originally vague competition between the two parties become a harmonious state of peace & love.

Finally, the tickers of the two projects are also interesting. IO is the abbreviation of input & output of the calculator, and it is also a classic domain name suffix. And ATH is the abbreviation of all time high, which is a common term in crypto, and it seems to also vaguely hint at the difference between the two.