Decentralized Computing Platform Akash Sees Fees Surge 1,729% in a Year

As artificial intelligence continues to push boundaries, Akash Network, a decentralized cloud computing platform, has emerged as a potentially critical player to power exploding tech needs.

Co-founder Greg Osuri recently sat down with Coinage for an interview at the Messari Mainnet conference to discuss Akash’s rapid growth, its role in the AI revolution, and how decentralizing the cloud could potentially prevent a dangerous consolidation of power among a few large AI players.

Since being named one of Coinage's Crypto Projects of the Year in 2023, Akash has made significant strides. "Last year when we did the interview, I think the daily spend [on Akash] was $500 a day. Now, it's $5,000 a day — literally 10X over a year." The impressive growth speaks to Akash's potential as more builders, particularly those in AI, look to decentralize cloud services as a cost-effective, scalable alternative to centralized providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Akash has also caught the attention of some major players. “Nvidia uses Akash quite a lot,” Osuri pointed out, adding that Akash is likely the only decentralized protocol being used by the tech giant. "It’s really good to see both penetration not only in the decentralized ecosystem but in like as centralized as it gets, with Nvidia being the largest company in the world using decentralized networks."

But decentralizing cloud computing isn’t just about reducing costs. For Osuri, it's about disrupting industries where control has been concentrated in the hands of a few. He drew a parallel between today's tech monopolies and the corporate behemoths of America's past, specifically referencing the rise and fall of Standard Oil and railroads.

“If you look at how railroads started off in the mid-1800s and how they effectively became the de facto industry in America, that led to a lot of experimentation, cartelization, and oligopolies,” he said, emphasizing the importance of decentralization as a tool to challenge entrenched corporate power. He continued, “Crypto can really solve these heavy corruption that happens with corporations getting large.”

At the heart of this vision is Akash's ability to democratize access to computing power, a critical resource for AI development. As artificial intelligence continues to expand, the need for decentralized cloud infrastructure has never been more urgent. “AI is augmenting how we think and work. It’s buying us time to do more as humans, but it’s controlled by so few," Osuri warned. "We all saw what happened when five people on OpenAI's board can effectively control the most powerful AI in the world ... that is scary."

Akash is designed to offer an alternative to this centralized control, giving users access to cloud computing power in a decentralized manner. But there’s more to decentralizing AI than just access to hardware. Osuri also stressed the importance of regulatory oversight that balances innovation with control. "The biggest risk as a society is digital feudalism — where a few companies hoard critical resources like computing power and AI," he said.

As Akash scales, the team is focused on lowering barriers to entry and expanding access to decentralized computing power. To address these hurdles, Akash is launching new products aimed at streamlining the user experience for AI engineers. Osuri outlined a significant improvement: “If you want to run Llama 3.1 or 3.2 (the open source LLM) just to download the weights and load those weights into this massive H100 clusters, which are not cheap, it takes about 3 to 5 hours by the time you can get productive... With our new product, that time will be cut short from 5 hours to 15 seconds.”

This reduction in setup time could be a game-changer, especially as the global demand for AI infrastructure grows. "[AI] is still a very niche field," Osuri admitted, but the opportunity is enormous.

As AI adoption accelerates, Osuri expressed both excitement and concern about the global infrastructure’s ability to meet the growing demand for computing power. He noted that the energy requirements for AI are set to soar, predicting that “by 2030, 20% of U.S. electricity production will be consumed by AI.” This rising demand could lead to an increase in nuclear-powered data centers, as Osuri pointed out, “Microsoft just bought a nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania, Oracle is building nuclear reactors in Texas.”

Looking ahead, Osuri is optimistic about Akash’s role in this rapidly changing landscape. "The opportunity is so massive," he said, highlighting the potential for decentralized technologies to shape the future of AI, energy, and beyond.

Coinage members can watch our full interview with Akash founder Greg Osuri above. To support our community-owned outlet, own it with us, and unlock other exclusive benefits, mint one of our Membership Passes today or Stake with us today! Chat with Coinage in our Discord.