Venice AI Reaches 450,000 Users, Champions Decentralized Future for Artificial Intelligence

Erik Voorhees, a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency space and founder of ShapeShift, is leading a movement for decentralized artificial intelligence through his latest venture, Venice AI. Voorhees recently emphasized the critical importance of AI architecture in shaping future generations' cognitive freedom, stating, "Your kids will grow up thinking with and through AI. The architecture we build today determines whether they think freely, or through corporate and government filters." This assertion, shared on social media, underscores a core philosophy driving Venice AI's development alongside co-founder Teana Baker-Taylor, formerly of Circle.

Venice AI, launched in May 2024, aims to provide an open-source, privacy-preserving, and uncensored alternative to mainstream AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. The platform is designed to ensure user data remains private, with conversations stored locally on the user's browser rather than on centralized servers. Voorhees has stated that this approach directly counters concerns about data sharing and potential governmental influence, contrasting it with models accused of sharing user data with state entities.

Further solidifying its position in the decentralized AI landscape, Venice AI launched its native VVV token on the Ethereum Layer 2 Base network in January 2025. The VVV token, which saw a Coinbase listing on its launch day, achieved a fully diluted valuation of $1.6 billion. The token is designed to reduce economic friction for AI agents and can be staked to gain access to free inferences through Venice's API, aligning with the project's vision of a permissionless AI ecosystem.

The company has reported significant growth, attracting over 450,000 registered users and 50,000 daily active users, processing more than 15,000 inference requests per hour. This rapid adoption highlights a growing demand for AI tools that prioritize privacy and freedom from censorship. Voorhees firmly believes that open-source software and decentralized architecture are the "only solution" against potentially detrimental regulations and licensing regimes that could stifle civilizational progress in AI.

Venice AI utilizes open-source models like Meta's Llama 3 and other generative AI models for text and image creation, explicitly stating that it will never integrate with centralized services such as OpenAI or Anthropic. The project's commitment to open, permissionless systems seeks to ensure that as AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily life, individuals retain control over their interactions and information, fostering a future where AI serves as a tool for free thought rather than a mechanism for control.