Near plans $160M open-source AI model with 1.4T parameters

Near Protocol (CRYPTO:NEAR) has revealed plans for the development of the world’s largest open-source AI model, announced at its Redacted conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

This model, featuring 1.4 trillion parameters, would surpass Meta’s open-source Llama model by 3.5 times.

The project aims to foster contributions from a broad network of researchers through the Near AI Research hub, allowing participants to begin by training a smaller 500 million parameter model.

Near Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin disclosed that funding for the costly project, estimated at $160 million, would be generated through token sales.

“Then the tokenholders get repaid from all the inferences that happen when this model is used. So we have a business model, we have a way to monetise it, we have a way to raise money, and we have a way to put this in a loop. And so people can actually reinvest back into the next model as well,” Polosukhin explained.

The model will evolve across seven stages, with only top contributors advancing to work on more complex versions.

The project is set to ensure privacy and incentivise contributors through encrypted Trusted Execution Environments.

Co-founder Alex Skidanov, who leads Near AI, recognised the project’s ambitious nature and noted the technical challenge of accessing the required computational power.

Skidanov mentioned that current distributed training methods need fast interconnects, requiring new technology to train such a model using a decentralised network.

Emerging research from Deep Mind has shown that decentralised training may be feasible.

During the conference, Edward Snowden emphasised the importance of decentralised AI to prevent centralised control, which he warned could lead to significant privacy concerns.

“If AI is controlled by one company, we effectively are going to do whatever that company says,” Snowden stated, reinforcing the importance of aligning AI development with Web3 principles to ensure relevance and decentralisation.

At the time of reporting, the NEAR Protocol price was $5.08.