Decentralized AI network Cocoon, a privacy-preserving distributed computing platform built on The Open Network (TON) – an independent layer-1 blockchain associated with the messaging application Telegram – went live on Sunday.
Cocoon allows owners of graphics processing units (GPUs) to rent their computing power to the network and process user queries and requests in exchange for Toncoin (TON), the native token of the TON blockchain.
The decentralized AI network has processed the first requests from users and GPU owners are already benefiting from renting out their hardware, according to Pavel Durov, co-founder of Telegram. He said:
“Centralized computing providers like Amazon and Microsoft act as expensive middlemen that drive up prices and reduce privacy. Cocoon solves both the economic and confidentiality issues associated with legacy AI computing providers.”
Source: Pavel Durov
Durov announced the release of Cocoon at the Blockchain Life 2025 conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in October, in response to user demand for an AI platform that would protect the privacy and data of large, centralized AI service providers.
The blockchain community, privacy advocates, and cypherpunks have long warned about the negative social effects of centralized AI and advocated for decentralized AI networks as a public good.
Durov announces Cocoon at the Blockchain Life 2025 conference in Dubai. Source: Blockchain life 2025
Related: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov allowed to leave France now that travel ban has been lifted: report
Decentralized AI and self-sovereignty: an antidote to a centralized dystopia
Centralized AI systems give governments and companies enormous influence over individuals that can compromise user privacy, threaten traditional cybersecurity measures and lead to social conditioning by organized actors, David Holtzman, chief strategy officer of Naoris’ decentralized security protocol, told Cointelegraph.
These threats can be mitigated by applying blockchain technology to AI to authenticate information sources, ensure tamper-proof data and allow nodes on distributed computer networks to communicate reliably, he added.
In 2024, AI researchers from the Dfinity Foundation, the non-profit organization driving the development of the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), and executives from decentralized AI developer Onicai outlined seven rules to ensure ethical AI.
These include running AI over permissionless blockchain networks to ensure transparency and data integrity.
A poll conducted by the Digital Currency Group (DCG) in May found that 77% of the 2,036 respondents surveyed said decentralized AI would benefit society more than centralized systems.
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