Get ready for a bold claim! A new blockchain, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and infused with artificial intelligence, has entered the crypto arena. According to co-founder Travis Good, this isn’t just another blockchain – it’s “ultimately designed as a replacement for Bitcoin.”

This might sound like a wild statement, but Good believes it’s grounded in a stark reality: Bitcoin’s encryption is becoming “really stale.” He even predicts it could be “completely obsolete within five years.” This poses a serious problem for Bitcoin miners.

As Good explained to CoinDesk at the recent ethDenver conference, “You’ve got people who’ve invested billions of dollars” into powerful mining equipment (ASICs) to secure the Bitcoin network. “And the question is,” he posed, “where do they all go?” if Bitcoin becomes obsolete.

His solution? Ambient. This new blockchain is deeply rooted in the world of AI – what Good calls the “future economy.” He envisions Ambient becoming a “decentralized competitor to OpenAI.” And for those Bitcoin miners wondering about their future, Ambient operates on a proof-of-work system, making the transition potentially seamless.

Good boldly stated, “It’s a useful proof of work network, which we don’t think anyone has ever done well in crypto.”

Ambient isn’t alone in trying to merge crypto and AI. Many projects are exploring this intersection, driven by the idea that blockchains and decentralized collaboration can guide AI development in a way that better serves humanity compared to centralized corporations.

One of the biggest and most well-funded of these projects is Bittensor. However, Good argues that Bittensor, despite its ambition to be a “global computer,” falls short because it doesn’t actually run AI models directly on the blockchain. Ambient, on the other hand, has AI deeply integrated into its very core.

The big question is, will Bitcoin miners – and even everyday users – actually adopt such a radically different network? That likely depends on Ambient’s economic success. Good’s vision is for Ambient to deliver super-intelligent AI that’s fast, affordable, and crucially, open and transparent, ensuring users truly get the value they expect for their money.

While Ambient aims to provide Bitcoin-level security, its network speed is more akin to Solana.

Ambient has already garnered significant attention, raising $7.2 million in seed funding from a16z’s crypto accelerator and Delphi Digital, a VC firm known for its keen interest in the crypto-AI space.

Alex Golding, a venture associate at Delphi, highlights a key issue: “Everyone in crypto is currently using centralized AI to power their apps, to power their frontend.” He believes this is a major problem because users have no insight into how these AI models are trained, making them vulnerable to receiving potentially manipulated or low-quality outputs.

This is where Ambient’s “verified inference” comes in. This system, central to how miners are rewarded, acts like a fact-checker, ensuring that the AI-generated answers users receive truly come from the high-quality models they’ve paid for.

Good emphasizes the critical importance of this verification, stating forcefully, “If you don’t have verified inference, you’re guaranteed to get rugged.” He even warns of potential dangers like “nation state actors” poisoning AI models for malicious purposes, referencing the Lazarus Group, North Korea’s infamous hacking collective, as an example.