How Web3 Is Disrupting AI Cloud Computing
Centralized data networks, ones that are owned and/or managed by a single entity, have been structurally broken for years. Why? Single points of failure. If one entity (or even a few) has access to a database, then there is only one “point” to compromise in order to gain full access. This is a serious problem for networks holding sensitive data like customer information, government files, and financial records, and those with control of infrastructure like power grids.Billions of digital records were stolen in 2024 alone, causing an estimated $10 trillion in damages! Notable breaches include nearly all of AT&T’s customer information and call logs, half of America’s personal health information, 700 million end-user records from companies using Snowflake, 10 billion unique passwords stored on RockYou24, and Social Security records for 300 million Americans.Although hundreds of billions of dollars are spent each year on cyber security, data breaches are getting larger and happening more frequently. It’s become clear that incremental products cannot fix these network vulnerabilities — the infrastructure must be completely rearchitected.The implications of this technology address all of Apple’s concerns noted earlier:Privacy and security verification: With public smart contracts orchestrating the network, users can verify whether user data was transported and used as promised.Workload and program transparency: The network also verifies the work done within the confidential TEEs, cryptographically proving the correct hardware, data, and software were used, and that the output wasn’t tampered with. This information is also submitted on-chain for all to audit.Single point of failure: Network resources (data, software, hardware) are only accessible by the owner’s private key. Therefore, even if one user is compromised, only that user’s resources are at risk.While cloud AI represents an enormous opportunity for Web3 to disrupt, BOCCs can be applied to any type of centralized data network (power grid, digital voting infrastructure, military IT, etc.), to provide superior and verifiable privacy and security, without sacrificing performance or latency. Our digital infrastructure has never been more vulnerable, but blockchain-orchestration can fix it.