NTU Singapore and Zero Gravity Introduce S$5 Million Research Hub for Decentralized AI Innovation

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore has teamed up with Zero Gravity (0G) to establish a research hub worth S$5 million aimed at advancing decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) innovations. This initiative will support several projects focused on decentralized AI training, blockchain-enhanced model alignment, and innovative consensus mechanisms. The collaboration seeks to connect academic research with robust infrastructure for open AI systems, ensuring transparency and accountability in AI processes.

Key Takeaways

NTU Singapore and Zero Gravity are launching a S$5 million research hub for decentralized AI.
The hub will fund initiatives focusing on decentralized AI training and blockchain integration.
Blockchain technology will be used for transparency in AI processes, from training to results.
The initiative is a collaboration between 0G and NTU, with significant backing from various investors.
The project aims to cultivate talent in decentralized AI over four years, including workshops and open-source endeavors.
Singapore is poised to become a center for trustworthy and open AI development.

NTU Singapore and Zero Gravity Launch S$5 Million Research Hub for Decentralized AI Innovation

Main Content

This milestone marks 0G’s first collaboration with a university on a global scale. The initiative aims to bridge the gap between university research and scalable infrastructure for open artificial intelligence systems, which will differ from conventional AI systems that are typically closed and managed by private companies.

Instead of running artificial intelligence on private servers where processing and outcomes are unseen, this project utilizes blockchain technology. This will allow for thorough documentation and validation of every step in the AI process, from the training phase down to the final results.

Michael Heinrich, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of 0G, alongside Professor Louis Phee, Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NTU, officially announced the opening of this research center.

An investment seed round totaling $40 million has been spearheaded by Hack Ventures, with contributions from Delphi Ventures, OKX Ventures, Samsung Next, and Animoca Brands. Recently, 0G disclosed that it has gathered more than $325 million in committed funding.

Collaborating on this project are Professor Wen Yonggang, Dean of the Graduate College and Associate Provost of Graduate Education at NTU, along with Dr. Ming Wu, Co-founder of 0G and Chief Technology Officer. Their teams will focus on developing decentralized computing architectures and secure marketplaces for AI that compensate users for sharing data and computing resources.

This four-year effort will also encompass workshops, hackathons, student scholarships, and open-source projects, all designed to nurture the upcoming generation of decentralized AI experts in Asia.

In the first two years, the expectation is to produce early proof-of-concepts, particularly in finance, healthcare, and smart infrastructure.

The College of Computing and Data Science at NTU, along with its Centre in Computational Technologies for Finance (CCTF), will lead research in scalable model training, AI governance, and blockchain-supported security frameworks.

Through this partnership, Singapore is set to enhance its reputation as a hub for the development of open and credible artificial intelligence, paving the way for future international collaboration in the realm of decentralized intelligence.

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), is a prestigious public research university with 35,000 students enrolled in various undergraduate and postgraduate programs, ranging from business and computing to humanities, arts, and medicine.

NTU hosts numerous leading research centers, such as the Earth Observatory of Singapore and the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N). The university is also home to several internationally recognized autonomous institutes, including the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering.

With the NTU Smart Campus initiative, the university leverages digital technologies to enhance learning and life experiences, promote research, and ensure resource sustainability.

NTU is regularly ranked among the top universities worldwide and is renowned for its scenic campus. The institution has achieved Green Mark Platinum accreditation for all its eligible building projects, underlining its commitment to sustainability. Additionally, NTU has a medical campus located in Novena, Singapore's primary healthcare district.

In its pursuit of a fully democratized future of intelligence, 0G is the world's first dedicated decentralized artificial intelligence protocol (AIP). Designed as a modular and infinitely scalable Layer 1 solution, 0G facilitates large-scale decentralized AI applications. It integrates high-performance decentralized storage, computing, and data availability (DA) to support the next generation of AI-native use cases. Through this initiative, 0G lays the foundation for an open and unstoppable artificial intelligence economy, backed by verified AI processing and a permissionless agent ecosystem.