AI-Cardano-Bridge

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

UnboundedMarket Team

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Not Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ada

150000

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We propose the AI-Cardano-Bridge: a platform for seamless integration of AI models into DeFi and non-DeFi applications, leveraging Cardano for on-chain ownership management and revenue-participation.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Not open-source

[METADATA] Horizons

AI

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Motivation:

With the recent advancements in AI, many projects have begun integrating AI tools into the Cardano ecosystem. In Fund11 alone, 59 projects featured keywords like AI and LLM in their titles. However, despite this widespread adoption, there is currently no standardized framework for integrating AI into these projects, leading to inconsistent approaches and limited scalability.

Technical Solution:

1. Framework for Cloud Inference of Containerized AI Models

The AI-Cardano-Bridge enables cloud-based inference for containerized AI models, referred to as AI-containers. Our framework facilitates the secure storage of AI-containers, allowing them to be retrieved and executed on-demand via a standardized API. This ensures optimal resource usage by enabling AI models to be run only when needed, reducing overhead and ensuring scalability across multiple projects and use cases. Developers and users can dynamically access and run these AI models as needed, without the requirement of pre-allocated resources or custom environments.

2. Billing and Ownership Management Framework

A smart contract based billing and ownership management system handles on-demand payments. This allows for seamless, automated payment processes based on usage. The framework also supports transparent on-chain ownership tracing by securely tracking the creation, usage, and transfer of containerized AI models on the blockchain. This transparency builds trust while protecting intellectual property rights for AI model creators.

3. Guidelines and API Documentation

To support developers working with containerized AI models, the AI-Cardano-Bridge provides comprehensive guidelines for crafting AI-containers. These best practices ensure that models are containerized consistently and efficiently. Furthermore, detailed API documentation is available to help developers integrate the AI models into their applications. The documentation simplifies the interaction with the system, speeding up development and making it easier to leverage the framework’s capabilities.

4. Web3 API: Programmatic Interaction with the System

The Web3 API allows developers to programmatically interact with the AI-Cardano-Bridge backend. It supports key operations such as AI-model creation, deletion, inference, and ownership transfer. Building on REST API queries, developers can craft custom applications that utilize containerized AI models without needing to manage the backend infrastructure.

Conclusion:

The AI-Cardano-Bridge offers a flexible, scalable solution for integrating containerized AI models into Web3 and Cardano applications. By enabling cloud-based inference, transparent billing, on-chain ownership management, and providing comprehensive developer tools, it simplifies AI integration and fosters innovation across DeFi and non-DeFi sectors.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

The AI-Cardano-Bridge will significantly enrich the Cardano ecosystem by seamlessly bridging artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. This project opens new opportunities for developers, entrepreneurs, and AI experts to contribute to Cardano in innovative and impactful ways.

Simplifying AI Integration for Developers

One of the core benefits of the AI-Cardano-Bridge is that it dramatically simplifies the process of integrating AI into decentralized applications (dApps) on Cardano. Developers will no longer need deep expertise in AI or machine learning to utilize the power of these technologies in their applications. Key features include:

• Effortless AI Model Access: Developers have easy access to a wide range of AI models, including new and well-established ones, making it simpler to incorporate advanced AI capabilities into their projects.
• On-Demand Inference: AI models can be run on-demand, enabling real-time responses without requiring local infrastructure.
• Monetization Opportunities: Those willing to share their AI models on Cardano will have the opportunity to generate revenue based on usage, creating a new financial incentive for AI development on Cardano.

By providing a standardized and accessible way to work with AI models, the AI-Cardano-Bridge will empower more developers to experiment with AI without the usual barriers of expertise or high infrastructure costs, fostering more innovation within the Cardano network.

Lowering the Barriers for AI-Powered DApps

The unified framework of the AI-Cardano-Bridge will reduce the time and effort required to integrate AI into the next generation of Cardano DApps. This will benefit the Cardano development community in several ways:

• Reduced Complexity: The platform abstracts the challenges of AI model storage, inference, and billing, allowing developers to focus on building innovative applications.
• Plug-and-Play AI Solutions: Developers will be able to easily integrate AI features like natural language processing, image recognition, or predictive analytics into their DApps with minimal effort.
• Fostering Innovation: By simplifying AI integration, the project will accelerate the development of AI-driven solutions across various sectors, such as finance, healthcare, supply chain, and gaming within the Cardano ecosystem.

With these advantages, more developers will be able to leverage AI in their projects, accelerating the growth and diversification of Cardano-powered DApps.

Expanding Opportunities for AI Developers

The AI-Cardano-Bridge will also create new opportunities for AI developers looking to showcase and monetize their models. Whether they aim to distribute their AI tools freely or for profit, the platform will offer a streamlined approach to:

• Monetizing AI Models: By offering paid access to their models, AI developers can turn their expertise into a business opportunity.
• Blockchain-Backed Ownership and Rights Management: With smart contracts ensuring on-chain ownership tracing, developers can maintain control over their intellectual property, fostering trust and accountability.
• Expanding Reach: AI developers will gain access to a broader audience within the Cardano ecosystem, encouraging cross-sector collaboration and enabling AI-driven DApps to flourish.

This creates a symbiotic relationship between AI developers and the broader Cardano ecosystem, where both benefit from enhanced exposure and the integration of AI into decentralized applications.

A New Dimension to the Cardano Ecosystem

Ultimately, the AI-Cardano-Bridge introduces a groundbreaking new layer of functionality to the Cardano blockchain. By integrating AI capabilities, Cardano's potential will expand beyond traditional financial applications into areas such as AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi), smart contracts with machine learning-based decision-making, and AI-enhanced governance systems. The ripple effect of this project will:

• Push Innovation: The reduction in AI integration complexity will encourage the creation of novel DApps, enhancing the diversity and capabilities of the Cardano platform.
• Strengthen the Ecosystem: With AI as a native capability, Cardano will stand out as a blockchain that not only supports but encourages cutting-edge technological advancements, attracting more developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to the platform.

In summary, the AI-Cardano-Bridge will be a transformative force within the Cardano community, unlocking new possibilities for AI integration, fostering innovation, and solidifying Cardano’s position as a leader in the convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Our team consists of four AI experts and blockchain enthusiasts with proven track records in academia and crypto development and up to 8 years of experience in relevant fields. Our work-philosophy is best described by:

Open: Achievements and work artifacts are open-sourced and published on a regular basis.

 

Transparent: Using clear documentation and academic rigor, we build trust and accountability. Whenever appropriate, we are happy to discuss our work with the academic community at top-tier blockchain and AI conferences around the globe.

Collaborative: Through collaboration with established industry-peers from our earlier blockchain ventures, we gain regular feedback to continuously improve and adjust where required.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: Research Proposal and Requirements Definition

Outputs: A complete and extensive research proposal that clearly defines the requirements for all four pillars, as defined in our project proposal, namely:

• Cloud-inference framework (storage of models & on-demand inference).
• Billing and ownership management framework.
• RESTful API.
• AI-model containerisation guidelines.

Acceptance Criteria: The full research proposal is publicly available and contains:

1. A section on the motivation and scope of the project.
2. Sections on all four pillars in which we define the requirements.
3. A critical discussion of the requirements.
4. A section summarizing the requirements and outlining the next steps.

Evidence: A link to the research proposal in PDF format satisfying all of the above mentioned criteria.

Milestone 2: Prototype for Cloud Storage and Inference

Outputs: A working prototype demonstrating the cloud-based storage and inference of containerized AI models.

Acceptance Criteria: A detailed report or demonstration video of a typical usage flow that showcases:

• Storage of AI models
• On-demand inference of the available AI models

Evidence: A link to the video demonstration, report, or live-demonstration of the working prototype.

Milestone 3: Scalable Prototype with Upload and Inference Features

Outputs: A working prototype that extends the prototype from Milestone 2 by:

• Supporting higher scalability with a minimum of 10 containerized AI models ready to use.
• Providing an API that enables users to upload new AI-model containers and perform inference on them.

Acceptance Criteria: Link to a minimalistic frontend that interfaces with the AI-Cardano-Bridge, demonstrating: 

• The successful inference of a range of AI models.
• The process of creating a new user, uploading a new AI-package and performing inference on the uploaded model.

Evidence: A link to a working prototype, demonstrating successful interaction with the system.

Milestone 4: Retrospection and Progress Review

Outputs: Report summarizing the state of development and identifying potential shortcomings and weaknesses. The goal is to do a retrospection and redirect the workforce if required, to ensure long-term success of the project.

Acceptance Criteria: Report including:

• A detailed update on the state of development
• Key learnings from the previous milestones
• recommendations and strategies to achieve upcoming goals
• A list of immediate actions if necessary, to keep the project on track

Evidence: A link to the retrospection report in PDF format satisfying all of the above stated criteria.

Final Milestone: Fully Functional Prototype and API

Outputs: A fully functional prototype which extends the features from Milestone 3 by:

• A fully-functional REST API for interacting with the AI-Cardano-Bridge
• A robust inference framework for containerized AI models
• Finalized guidelines and requirements for containerizing AI models
• Complete API documentation

Acceptance Criteria: Link to a frontend demonstrating:

• Inference of a variety of AI models
• The full user workflow, including creating a new user, uploading a new AI-container and inferring the new model
• Showcasing a similar workflow using only the API without the frontend.

Evidence: Link to the working prototype and the API documentation.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Timo is an entrepreneur with a deep expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence, and cloud engineering. He holds a Master’s degree in Robotics with a focus on AI applications and co-founded an AI-driven agricultural startup. Timo has published his work at a major conference, demonstrating his ability to merge academic research with real-world solutions. Timo is driven by his passion to unlock the pioneering potential in bringing AI solutions to the blockchain.

Samy is a professional with five years of blockchain development experience and nearly eight years in AI and machine learning. As a developer and researcher, Samy has worked on several DeFi protocols and published peer-reviewed articles in top-tier AI journals and conferences.

Chris is a seasoned software developer and entrepreneur, boasting over four years of specialized experience in blockchain and AI technologies. His in-depth research in AI and blockchain testifies his comprehensive knowledge of the DeFi ecosystem, establishing him as a knowledgeable figure within the community.

Phil is a former AI & Data scientist with a proven academic track record and several years of industrial experience. His professional career revolved around the robotics & aerospace industry, where he successfully integrated AI to tackle challenging problems. As a crypto-enthusiast, he now seeks to contribute to the next wave of blockchain innovation.

Future Recruitment: We plan to potentially recruit additional Cardano-experienced blockchain developers and UI/UX designers as needed to further scale our development efforts.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Documentation – 7.5k ADA

• API: Creating detailed documentation for API usage.
• Model Containerisation Procedures: Guidelines and documentation for developers on how to containerize their AI models effectively for the AI-Cardano-Bridge.
• Project Reports: Regular reporting on project progress, milestones, and outcomes for transparency and future reference.

Infrastructure Costs & Marketing – 7.5k ADA

• Public Backend Server Costs: Hosting costs for the public backend server to facilitate access to the AI-Cardano-Bridge for external developers.
• Demo Frontend Hosting: Costs associated with hosting a frontend demo that demonstrates the bridge’s capabilities, such as model storing and inference capabilities.

Project Management – 7.5k ADA

• IDE & Management Tools: Tools and infrastructure required to manage the development process efficiently, such as project tracking, version control, and collaboration platforms.
• Administrative and Oversight Costs: Ensuring the project remains on track, meets milestones, and communicates effectively across all teams and stakeholders.
• Quality Assurance & Testing: Comprehensive testing and quality control to ensure the AI-Cardano-Bridge meets functional and performance standards.

Cloud-Inference Framework – 60k ADA

• Framework for Model Storage: Development of the infrastructure to securely store AI models in the cloud, ensuring accessibility and reliability.
• Framework for Model Inference: Developing the cloud-based infrastructure that enables on-demand inference of AI models, ensuring that models can be executed efficiently and at scale.

Billing and Ownership Management Framework – 45k ADA

• Smart Contract Development: Designing and deploying smart contracts that handle the automatic billing process based on usage and ensuring secure ownership transfer of AI models on the blockchain.
• Web3 Integration for API: Enabling the API to interact with Cardano's blockchain using Web3 protocols, ensuring that billing and ownership are securely handled on-chain.

API Development – 22.5k ADA

• API Development: Building a robust API that allows external developers to interface with the AI-Cardano-Bridge for tasks such as model uploading, inferencing, and managing billing and ownership.
• Documentation: Providing comprehensive API documentation for developers, making it easy for them to integrate with the backend, conduct model queries, and create applications that leverage the AI-Cardano-Bridge.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The AI-Cardano-Bridge represents a highly strategic investment that delivers long-term value by accelerating AI adoption within decentralized applications (DApps) and offering several key benefits to the Cardano ecosystem. The cost of the project is justified by its potential to drive innovation, reduce barriers for developers, and create economic opportunities, ensuring a strong return on investment to the Cardano ecosystem.

Return on Investment:

• Laying the Groundwork for Future Innovation

By establishing open standards, APIs, and procedures for AI integration, the AI-Cardano-Bridge sets the foundation for future projects. This foundational work simplifies AI integration for developers, reducing both technical and financial entry barriers. These contributions will help make AI more accessible, expanding the potential for AI-powered DApps within Cardano, with ongoing benefits for future projects.

• Cost-Effective Development Framework

Although the initial development costs (cloud-inference, API, smart contracts) may seem substantial, they are strategically invested to create an efficient and scalable infrastructure. By creating reusable components such as the cloud inference framework and Web3 API, future projects can leverage these tools, saving significant development time and resources.

This investment will lead to a more cost-effective development process for the broader community, as developers can easily tap into the AI-Cardano-Bridge without needing to build or manage their own AI infrastructure.

• Enabling Monetization and Economic Growth

The smart contract-enabled billing and ownership management system will provide an entirely new economic layer for AI model monetization within the Cardano ecosystem. This capability will encourage more AI developers to contribute and share their models on the platform, thereby fostering a marketplace of AI tools that can be integrated into a wide array of DApps.

For developers, this opens up new revenue streams, while users can access state-of-the-art AI without high upfront costs, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem.

• Positioning Cardano as a Leader in AI-Blockchain Integration

The AI-Cardano-Bridge gives Cardano a unique competitive edge in the blockchain space, offering an AI integration solution that many other platforms currently lack. As AI continues to grow across industries like DeFi, healthcare, and supply chains, having a native AI-integration framework will attract a broad range of developers, users, and investors to the Cardano platform.

This proactive approach to AI integration will cement Cardano’s position as a leader in blockchain technology, encouraging new partnerships and driving growth within the ecosystem.

The AI-Cardano-Bridge is a forward-looking investment that delivers substantial value for the Cardano ecosystem by simplifying AI integration, reducing development costs, creating new monetization opportunities, and positioning Cardano as a leader in AI-blockchain solutions. Its long-term benefits ensure a strong return on investment for the Cardano community.