Hoskinson Forecasts Blockchain's Next Big Absorption: Artificial Intelligence

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson predicts that blockchain technology will eventually absorb artificial intelligence (AI), much like cryptocurrency absorbed cryptography as a discipline. Speaking on the Deeptech Insights podcast, Hoskinson noted that data center spending is growing tenfold year after year, but the electricity grid cannot scale at that pace. He drew a parallel to his own career in cryptography, where the field's best talent were eventually hired away by cryptocurrency.

Hoskinson expects AI to follow a similar arc within five to ten years, with blockchains filling gaps in payments, alignment, and data provenance. He argues that individual AI companies currently set their own rules on acceptable behavior and free speech, whereas a blockchain-based system could establish shared standards among participants.

The Cardano founder floated an alternative to building more data centers: pooling everyday phones and GPUs into a distributed training network. He compared today's AI buildout to the late-1990s fiber optic boom, when roughly 90% of newly laid cable sat idle for nearly a decade.