Original Title: "AI Dark Horse on the Fast Track, Taking on Google and Facebook?"

Original Author: Viee, Biteye

The crypto "AI craze" has not yet subsided, and the Nobel Prize has also entered the "AI era." This year's Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry are both related to artificial intelligence.

A few days ago, a16z partner @venturetwins released a noteworthy list of AI projects, among which @withvana was mentioned as the only Web3 project, deserving our special attention.

As the AI trend continues, what is Vana? What is its innovation? Let's dive into it today.

01What Does Vana Aim to Achieve?

The answer is a platform that tokenizes and trades user data. Users can leverage data generated on platforms like Google, Reddit, etc., to build a user-managed data marketplace, providing high-quality data for AI training and generating rewards.

This narrative has been mentioned in other AI projects as well, summarizing the idea of giving data back to users and opposing the monopoly of internet giants.

However, upon closer examination, Vana does have some unique highlights:

1. Data Trading: Users can place their data into a Data Liquidity Pool (DLP) and receive token rewards for each submission, similar to data mining.

2. Data DAO: Vana has established a Data DAO where users can not only upload and manage their data but also participate in decision-making and governance through this organization. This structure gives users greater voice and control on the platform, beyond just being data providers.

In essence, Vana's core is its "Data Liquidity Network," enabling users' data to be tokenized and traded like financial assets.

02Vana's Core Technical Concepts

"Building the best AI models" is Vana's foundation, which is why they developed the Data Liquidity Pool (DLP) to gather the highest quality data, a critical aspect for the project.

Vana achieves the "Data Liquidity Web" through two mechanisms: Proof of Contribution, which validates the value of private data in a privacy-preserving manner. And Non-custodial Data, which ensures that data is only used for approved operations.

Similar to a modern-day "data marketplace," participating in data liquidity pools on Vana is akin to early Ethereum mining. Its core technical concepts mainly consist of three:

1. Data Liquidity Layer (DLP)

This layer is responsible for aggregating user-submitted data into the Data Liquidity Pool (DLP). The DLP is a smart contract that enables users to contribute, validate, and record data. Like a "data pool," users input their data to form a large pool. The water (data) here is more valuable than individual droplets (personal data) as it can be used to train AI. Each data pool has its own rules on how to validate and use the data. Users who contribute data can receive rewards and governance rights.

2. Data Portability Layer

This layer is a collaborative space that allows data contributors and developers to utilize the data in the DLP to build applications. It provides infrastructure for training user-owned models and developing AI applications. Through this layer, online communities and developers can create economic value from the data, and data contributors can benefit from the AI generated from their data.

3. Connection Group

The Connection Group is a decentralized ledger that records data transactions within the Vana ecosystem in real-time. It ensures that each transaction is secure and valid, allowing external parties to also view these transactions. This ledger is compatible with other blockchain networks, enabling data to flow freely between different platforms.

It is based on these two layers and the Connection Group that Vana provides users with a secure, decentralized data management platform.

03 Data Mining: How Does It Work?

As mentioned earlier, in the data liquidity network, users can generate revenue from their personal data. The specific implementation path is as follows:

Firstly, it involves data assetization. Vana converts user data into tradable assets through Data Liquidity Pools (DLPs). Each DLP is a smart contract that specifically aggregates a certain type of data, and users receive corresponding token rewards after submitting data. This approach transforms user data from static information into digital assets that can be traded on the market.

Secondly, to ensure the quality of submitted data, it is necessary to validate the authenticity and quality of the data through a set of standards, which involves the Proof of Contribution mechanism. Only high-quality data can receive rewards. This process will involve multiple validators jointly assessing the data to ensure fair scoring and avoid bias.

Additionally, data stored in non-custodial storage does not go directly on-chain but is kept in a location chosen by the user, such as Google Drive. Only the creator and their authorized accounts can access this data. This is crucial as users always retain control over their own data.

Lastly, to connect all the links, an incentive mechanism is indispensable. Therefore, Vana allows each DLP to issue its own token, encouraging users to actively participate in data contribution. The top 16 ranked DLPs will receive additional Vana token rewards, further stimulating the formation and competition of high-quality data pools.

04 How is the current interaction?

Telegram Mini Program, Simple Mining Simulation

Vana has launched a mini-program interaction on Telegram (https://t.me/VanaDataHeroBot), where users can earn points by completing tasks. The specific operations are as follows:

1. Within the specified time, click on the middle of the orb. The more clicks, the more points you earn.

2. Social tasks, testnet tasks, invite friends

From the project's layout perspective, "Telegram mining" as a way to attract attention is only a small part of the interaction. Ecosystem project interactions, testnet node interactions, and so on will be the future focus. The official website currently displays ecosystem partners such as Reddit Data Dao, Flirtual, Kleo, and others, including some AI-related projects, making the gameplay quite promising.

Join a DLP to contribute data

The current rankings of existing DLPs are shown in the chart below. As an ordinary user, you can choose to contribute data to a DLP to earn points. Taking the top-ranked DAO—Reddit Data Dao as an example.

After registering a Reddit account, go to https://www.rdatadao.org/home and enter your username. Upon verification, leaving a comment or posting on Reddit will earn you points as a reward, which is linked to future token airdrops. It's low cost, so give it a try if you have the time.

05 Summary

Regardless, AI remains a key focus area in this cycle.

By combining AI with blockchain to enhance the intelligence of decentralized applications, meet data privacy and security requirements, and provide users with financial rewards. The alluring narrative is not lacking in capital or audience.

As hot money rushes into the field in the first half, the second half will determine which project can land first.

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