Telegram Cocoon: Decentralized AI Compute on TON Blockchain | Tech News

Introduction

Telegram unveils Cocoon, a decentralized AI compute network on TON blockchain. It offers private, cost-effective AI processing as an alternative to centralized services like AWS and Azure, eliminating intermediaries and enhancing data confidentiality.

How Cocoon's Decentralized Network Operates

Cocoon's marketplace connects clients, proxies, and workers. Clients pay for AI inference tasks, proxies route them to GPU workers, and payments settle in Toncoin on TON blockchain. Data and responses remain confidential, never exposed externally. This creates a new AI infrastructure layer for privacy.

Strategic Vision and Limitations

Founded by Pavel Durov, Cocoon is open to all developers and GPU owners, incentivizing hardware monetization for a distributed AI model hosting ecosystem. However, it relies on specific Intel processors, limiting scale and diversity initially.

Pros and Cons

Advantages

• Private alternative to centralized AI compute services
• Lowers costs by removing platform fees
• Revenue stream for GPU owners via Toncoin
• Leverages TON blockchain security and transparency
• Open to developers, fostering a permissionless Web3 ecosystem

Disadvantages

• Reliance on Intel processor architectures
• Unproven at scale with no network metrics
• Competes with established cloud computing providers

Conclusion

Cocoon merges decentralized blockchain with confidential AI processing on TON, tapping into a growing smart contract platform. Despite hardware limits, its private, user-owned vision could attract developers and hardware providers seeking alternatives to centralized services.