Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, believes blockchain technology will eventually absorb artificial intelligence, similar to how cryptocurrency absorbed cryptography as a discipline.
Speaking on the Deeptech Insights podcast, Hoskinson pointed to what he sees as an unsustainable economic model: data center spending grows tenfold annually while electricity grids cannot scale at the same pace. He noted that AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic must eventually achieve profitability, and the high cost of training new models constrains their path to profitability.
How Crypto Could Fill AI's Gaps
Hoskinson drew parallels to his own experience in cryptography, recalling that cryptographers once resisted association with cryptocurrency until crypto's financial incentives attracted top talent. He expects AI to follow a similar trajectory within five to ten years.
"Cryptocurrencies are going to eat AI because we solve all the hard problems that AI can't solve," Hoskinson said, citing payments, alignment, and data provenance as specific areas where blockchains could address gaps.
On alignment, Hoskinson argued that individual AI companies currently set their own standards for acceptable behavior and free speech. A blockchain system, he suggested, could establish shared standards among participants instead. The same infrastructure could track content origin and automate royalty payments when AI systems use someone else's work.
Distributed Infrastructure as Alternative
Hoskinson proposed pooling everyday phones and GPUs into a distributed training network rather than building more data centers. He compared today's AI infrastructure buildup to the late-1990s fiber optic boom, when approximately 90% of newly laid cable remained unused for nearly a decade.
A similar pattern could emerge with data centers, he suggested, shifting toward smaller models running locally on devices like Apple's M5 Mac Studio, with cryptocurrency serving as the coordination layer.
U.S. Regulation Outlook
Hoskinson also predicted the CLARITY Act will not pass Congress until 2029. His timeline came a day after the Senate failed to advance the bill on September 15, falling short of the 60 votes required.
