Seed round financing of 85 million dollars, the decentralized AGI system Sentient aims to surpass OpenAI

In the first half of 2024, the U.S. stock market surged significantly driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, with the S&P 500 index setting 31 new closing record highs. AI technology has become an essential label for startups, and the combination of Web3 and AI has emerged as a new hotspot in the tech world, inspiring endless imagination with the idea that "AI enhances productivity, and Web3 changes production relationships."
Against this backdrop, the open-source AI platform Sentient has completed an $85 million seed round financing, led jointly by Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures. Sentient is committed to building open-source AI models through community contributions, competing with OpenAI. Its core contributors include Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, who plans to launch a testnet in the third quarter of this year.
Joey Krug, a partner at Founders Fund, stated that the Sentient team is very sharp in their respective technical fields, while Paul Veradittakit of Pantera Capital believes that Sentient's Open, Monetizable, and Loyal (OML) AI model has disruptive potential. Brandon Potts of Framework Ventures emphasized that the Sentient team is the best choice to solve the economic issues of open-source AI.

Next, we will delve into Sentient's future plans and development prospects.

The AI Track Has Become a Hotspot in the Tech Innovation Field, and Sentient Stands Out in This Process

In the first half of 2024, the AI sector achieved significant performance and status elevation in the market. With the rapid development of AI technology, the U.S. stock market continued to rise, with the S&P 500 index frequently setting new highs. Among them, Nvidia, dubbed the "first AI stock," became the market focus, with its stock price soaring 149% within six months and its market capitalization surpassing $3 trillion.
Currently, almost all tech startups emphasize their AI technology applications, regardless of whether their main business is directly related to AI. This trend reflects the widespread influence of AI technology and the high recognition of its prospects in the market. Renowned investment institutions like a16z no longer set up dedicated AI-related funds, as AI technology has become a core element for all startups.
In the intersection of Web3 and AI, market performance is particularly noteworthy. Combining AI's productivity enhancement with Web3's transformation of production relationships, this field showcases enormous potential. According to data from the Financing Weekly, several "Web3+AI" projects received large-scale financing in the first half of 2024. These projects cover various areas, from infrastructure for computing power and algorithms to data and privacy protection, DeFi, and gaming.
As a prominent representative in this field, Sentient successfully completed an $85 million seed round financing, led by Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures. Sentient focuses on building open-source AI models through community contributions, aiming to compete with closed-source giants like OpenAI. Its Open, Monetizable, and Loyal (OML) AI model is considered to have the potential to disrupt the AI development industry.
In the current market, the AI sector is performing strongly, with rapid technological advancements, and investors are full of expectations for its prospects. As more projects like Sentient emerge, AI technology will continue to play an important role in the market, driving further development of technology and markets.

Challenging AI Giants Like OpenAI, Sentient Aims to Build an Open and Monetizable Platform

Sentient is an innovative company focused on building open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models, creating a decentralized artificial general intelligence (AGI) platform through community contributions, aiming to compete with traditional closed-source AI development models like OpenAI. Sentient incentivizes users to contribute and expand AI models using blockchain technology and rewards based on contributions, establishing a unique Open, Monetizable, and Loyal (OML) model.
In July 2024, Sentient successfully completed an $85 million seed round financing, led by Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures, with other investors including Ethereal Ventures, Robot Ventures, Symbolic Capital, and Delphi Ventures. Such a financing scale not only demonstrates the market's high recognition of Sentient but also reflects trust in its team and technology.
Sentient's core team consists of several highly influential experts in their respective fields. The core members include Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, whose extensive experience in blockchain and cryptocurrency provides a solid technical foundation for Sentient. Additionally, the team includes Pramod Viswanath, a professor of engineering at Princeton University, and Himanshu Tyagi, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, both of whom have a deep research background in AI and information theory. This team combination gives Sentient a unique advantage in the competitive AI field.
Sentient's platform incentivizes user participation in model development and improvement through community contributions and reward mechanisms. Founders Fund partner Joey Krug pointed out that Sentient's greatest advantage lies in the quality of its team and technical acuity. Pantera Capital's Paul Veradittakit emphasized that Sentient's open model will help address the centralization issues in AI development, possessing the potential to disrupt the AI development industry. Framework Ventures' Brandon Potts believes that Sentient's OML model will inject powerful energy into the open-source community, making it the best team to solve the economic issues of open-source AI.
Sentient has chosen to build its platform on Polygon, planning to utilize the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) to create its own chain. This strategic choice not only leverages Polygon's scalability and security but also provides highly scalable infrastructure for Sentient's platform. It is expected that Sentient will launch its testnet in the third quarter of this year, further promoting the development and application of its open-source AI models.

By building an open and monetizable AI platform, Sentient not only provides AI developers with a new space for innovation and collaboration but also points the way for future AI development. The scale of Sentient's financing and its strong lineup of investors demonstrate the market's high confidence in its future development, indicating that the open-source AI model will usher in new development opportunities.

Based on the Polygon Network, Sentient is Committed to Developing a Decentralized AGI System

Sentient is an AI research organization dedicated to building an open-source artificial general intelligence (AGI) platform through community contributions. Unlike OpenAI, Sentient aims to develop a decentralized AGI system that allows users to collaboratively build and monetize AI models, thereby changing the current centralized state of AI technology.
Sentient's technical framework is based on the Polygon network, utilizing its efficient blockchain technology to support the platform's decentralization and openness. The core of the platform is the OML (Open, Monetizable, and Loyal) model, which ensures that the platform can maintain openness, monetization capability, and loyalty to the community during the development process. In this way, developers can not only share and optimize AI models but also profit from them, stimulating broader community participation.
Sentient's technical architecture consists of three main layers: the user layer, the AI agent layer, and the OML model layer. At the user layer, billions of users will interact with AI agents, generating vast amounts of data. This data is transmitted to the AI agent layer, where millions of AI agents continuously optimize their performance by analyzing user interaction data. In the OML model layer, hundreds of AI models are managed and improved through blockchain technology, ensuring that each model can continuously enhance its intelligence and efficiency based on interaction data.
Sentient's AGI vision is to develop AGI in an open and decentralized manner, enabling it to not only perform specific tasks but also exhibit human-like cognitive abilities across multiple domains. Although this goal is ambitious, Sentient has already made initial progress and plans to launch its testnet in the third quarter of this year. The team believes that through the power of the community, this goal can be achieved in the near future, creating a truly open and powerful AGI platform.
Overall, Sentient's technical framework and AGI vision not only reflect its technological innovation but also demonstrate its determination to promote the democratization and openness of AI. By combining blockchain technology and decentralized concepts, Sentient is paving new paths for the future of AI development.

Is Sentient Reliable? Hear What Top Investors Have to Say

Why do top investors choose to invest in Sentient, this emerging open-source AI platform? Partners from leading investors like Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures have expressed that Sentient's greatest advantage lies in its outstanding team and innovative technical concepts.
Joey Krug, a partner at Founders Fund, pointed out that the quality of the Sentient team is one of the main reasons for their investment. He stated, "I have known Sandeep and Pramod for many years, and they are very sharp in their respective technical fields." This trust in the team members fills investors with confidence in Sentient's future.

Paul Veradittakit, managing partner at Pantera Capital, also highly praised Sentient's Open, Monetizable, and Loyal (OML) AI model. He believes that if AI development remains closed-source, many critical aspects of society will be vulnerable to the centralization effects of censorship and rent-seeking. In contrast, Sentient's open-source model has the potential to disrupt the AI development industry significantly.
Brandon Potts, a partner at Framework Ventures, emphasized the tremendous impact of Sentient's open and monetizable AI model on the open-source community. He stated that the Sentient team is the "most capable" team to solve the economic issues of open-source AI, and this capability will bring powerful transformative forces to the entire AI field.
In summary, top investors' trust in Sentient comes not only from its outstanding team background but also from its innovative technical architecture and clear vision. In today's rapidly evolving AI technology landscape, Sentient's open-source AGI platform is precisely the transformative force the market needs.
However, whether Sentient can truly achieve its ambitious goals, disrupt the current AI development model, and promote the openness and democratization of AI technology remains a question worth our continued attention.