The Integration of DePIN and AI: Opening a New Era of Smart Economy

On February 18, a cutting-edge forum focusing on the integration of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and artificial intelligence (AI) was successfully held in Hong Kong. The event attracted over 800 registrations, with more than 250 industry leaders, technology developers, investors, and individuals interested in emerging technology trends in attendance, to jointly explore the tremendous potential and future opportunities brought by the combination of DePIN and AI.

DePIN+AI: Landscape, Current Situation and Paradigm Shift

At the beginning of the event, two industry experts jointly delivered a keynote speech titled "DePIN+AI: Landscape, Current Situation, and Paradigm Shift." In recent years, artificial intelligence technology has experienced explosive growth, attracting a large amount of venture capital. According to relevant analysis data, the investment in the AI sector has risen from $1 billion in 2010 to an expected $78 billion by 2024. Data analysis shows that most investments are concentrated in Series A, indicating that capital is more inclined toward AI startups and is willing to seek excess returns through long-term companionship. Meanwhile, the substantial investments from some tech giants have further propelled this trend.

One particularly attractive point in the speech is that a market forecasting agency predicts that the agent-based artificial intelligence market in the AI sector is expected to see significant growth over the next decade, increasing from $520 million in 2024 to $196.6 billion in 2034, with a compound annual growth rate of 43.8%. This assessment is based on the profound impact of AI on the labor market. As AI capabilities improve, production costs are shifting from labor to software. When the demand for customer service increases relative to today (by 1 to 8 times), the cost per conversation will decrease, resulting in greater cost savings. For example, when conversation demand rises to 8 times the current level, the cost per conversation will drop to $0.125, potentially saving $54 billion in production costs.

In this transformation, AI has a huge demand for DePIN resources in four aspects: computing power, bandwidth, energy, and data. Some clues can be found from the situation of several companies. A company's quarterly revenue in the computing power sector has increased fivefold over the past three years, and the construction of data centers in North America in the bandwidth sector has also grown fivefold during the same period; in the energy sector, only two companies require 16GW; in the data sector, large companies invest over $500 million annually to purchase wholesale data for training AI models.

Looking back at the current market status of DePIN, the market share of DePIN projects remains relatively small in areas such as wireless transmission, computing, energy, and identity authentication. Although the number of DePIN projects has increased from 100 in 2022 to 1,170 in 2024, with the market capitalization soaring from $5 billion to $50 billion and the active node rate rising from 2% to over 50%, the overall share of DePIN only accounts for 0.1% of the trillion-dollar AI market, which has a growth potential of 100 to 1,000 times.

Highlights and Outlook

The event also provided a detailed introduction to the DePIN+AI classic framework Quicksilver. Quicksilver is an open-source integration framework that combines large language models (LLMs) with DePIN, supporting the integration of various DePIN projects through adapters and plugins, while providing the necessary tools and interfaces for training AI Agents. Quicksilver offers modules such as authentication, blockchain wallets, and verifiable computing, allowing AI Agents to utilize the data and resources provided by Quicksilver to perform various tasks, such as data analysis, decision support, and automation. Quicksilver provides a reliable operating environment for AI Agents while ensuring the transparency and security of data processing.

"modeling"

An industry expert stated at a summit that they are developing Physical AI, aimed at connecting real-world data with AI Agents through DePIN, enabling them to perceive events and make real-world decisions.

The first Physical AI "Bino AI" under the Quicksilver framework has been developed. Bino AI integrates relevant operating systems with the DePIN network (such as weather stations, geographic sensor networks, and hardware devices), endowing the AI Agent with real-time perception and decision-making capabilities.

As an expert said: "Quicksilver is helping us experiment to better understand public expenditure data. Bino is becoming an AI DOGE."

This event not only provided attendees with a platform to gain an in-depth understanding of the integration trends between DePIN and AI, but also showcased innovative applications and future development directions in this field through practical case studies. Attendees reached a consensus on the key role of DePIN in an AI resource-intensive future and expressed high interest in the immense potential demonstrated by the Quicksilver framework. With continuous technological advancements and the gradual improvement of the policy environment, DePIN + AI is expected to become an important force in driving the development of the global smart economy.

The organizer of this event will continue to be committed to promoting the innovation and application of DePIN and AI technology, contributing to the construction of a more open, efficient, and sustainable smart economic ecosystem.