Inside Bittensor: The Race to Decentralize AI

Inside Bittensor: The Race to Decentralize AI

Author: Bitcoin.com August 4, 2026 Duration: 53:12

In this episode, Alex Richardson sits down with Jacob Steeves, co-founder of Bittensor, to explore how the network is creating an open marketplace for intelligence—where anyone can contribute computing power, train AI models, and earn rewards through decentralized incentives.

The conversation dives into how TAO, subnets, miners, and validators work together, why Bitcoin-inspired economics could reshape AI development, and whether decentralized networks can compete with industry giants like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Topics include:

  • How Bittensor works
  • Bitcoin's influence on decentralized AI
  • TAO, subnets, miners, and validators explained
  • Building AI businesses on Bittensor
  • How TAO captures value across the ecosystem
  • The challenges of combining tokens with equity
  • Lessons from a major subnet rug pull
  • The Conviction upgrade and investor protection
  • The risks of centralized AI
  • Can decentralized AI outperform Big Tech?

If you're interested in Bitcoin, artificial intelligence, crypto, or the future of open technology, this conversation offers an inside look at one of the most ambitious decentralized AI projects in the industry.

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Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

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