Ethereum Foundation Unveils zkAPI for Private AI Inferences Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs

The Ethereum Foundation and The Open Anonymity Project have unveiled zkAPI, a tool that enables private AI inferences using zero-knowledge proofs. This software decouples financial accounting from user identity during the consumption of commercial large language models.

Until now, accessing neural compute services via application programming interfaces required linking credit cards or static API credentials to every request. However, this legacy framework exposes users' prompt histories directly to infrastructure providers. In contrast, zkAPI shifts spending authorization to a local cryptographic balance known as a private note.

Users execute a one-time deposit into a smart contract on the Ethereum mainnet and then generate zero-knowledge proofs certifying available funds without exposing the funding origin or the remaining account balance. Once verified by the server, the system generates a temporary key with a dollar-denominated spending cap, which resides exclusively in the volatile memory of the local device.