Qubic: The Decentralized Network for AGI and Computing

Qubic: the decentralized network bridging computing and artificial general intelligence

Overview

What if a blockchain network could run like one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world and, at the same time, train an artificial general intelligence in a decentralized way? In this MERGE Madrid talk, the startup Cairos, part of Qubic's Spanish-speaking community, explains what makes Qubic different, how its useful proof of work mechanism works and why its Monero proof of concept caught the sector's attention.

What you'll learn

• A different architecture: a network running on bare metal, without traditional node software, with C++ smart contracts for maximum performance
• Useful proof of work: nodes contribute computing power and the network assigns them useful workloads
• Decentralized computing: Qubic as one of the largest compute capacities in the ecosystem, compared to a supercomputer
• Decentralized AGI: the goal of building an AI ecosystem without relying on a single big tech, with Aigarth as the first proof of concept
• The Monero proof of concept: how Qubic directed compute capacity toward mining another network
• The project's stage: why it is compared to the Ethereum of 2015 and the opportunities it opens for developers

Session summary

A creator with a track record: the talk places Qubic in the line of earlier projects by the same creator, such as IOTA and NXT (one of the first blockchains to use proof of stake), a figure with a long history in the sector since Bitcoin's early days.

Performance and architecture: it explains that Qubic forgoes the usual node software and runs on bare metal, combining the in-memory data of nodes with C++ smart contracts; available tests mention figures of around 15.5 million transactions per second.

Computing in service of AI: the creator's goal is not to train one more LLM, but to build a decentralized artificial general intelligence; the first proof of concept, called Aigarth, learns autonomously through community interactions on X, compared to a child gradually learning to reason.

Useful proof of work: instead of conventional proof of work, nodes make their compute capacity available to the network, which distributes workloads —from AI training to, for example, Monero mining— programmatically and in a balanced way.

The Monero proof of concept: it is presented as a demonstration of capability, not an end in itself; many miners found it more profitable to mine through Qubic, and, despite the debate it generated, it is stressed that the experiment did not harm Monero's operation.

A network to build on: looking to the end of this year and the next, tools are announced to build on a decentralized AI ecosystem; Qubic's moment is compared to the Ethereum of 2015, with a call on developers to tap its potential.

Watch the full talk

Watch the full recording on MERGE's YouTube channel, with Cairos on Qubic, decentralized computing and artificial general intelligence.

FAQs

What is Qubic?
It is a decentralized network that combines high compute capacity with the goal of training an artificial general intelligence, using a consensus mechanism called useful proof of work.

What is useful proof of work?
A mechanism in which nodes contribute their compute capacity and the network assigns them useful workloads, such as training AI or mining another network, programmatically.

What was the Monero proof of concept?
A demonstration in which Qubic directed part of its compute capacity toward Monero mining; it served to prove its potential without harming that network's operation.

What is Aigarth?
It is the first artificial intelligence proof of concept on Qubic, which learns autonomously through the community's interactions on X.