Author: CAI | CharacterX
At the moment the Solana hackathon announced the winners, the entire studio exploded with excitement. "CAI | CharacterX CEO Gieno recalled, "this not only recognized our technical strength but also validated our core philosophy - the future of AI must be unrestricted."
Choosing to Go Against the Tide
In 2023, with the explosive popularity of ChatGPT, the AI field has received unprecedented attention. However, in this blue ocean, entrepreneurs quickly faced a common challenge: the heavy restrictions of centralized large models made it difficult for many innovative applications to land.
"At that time, we were thinking, if we really want to serve users well, we must have our own model," Gieno said. This decision was bound to be difficult - it meant going solo in a race filled with global tech giants. But for the CAI ( | CharacterX) team, this choice felt inevitable.
Team's Web3 leader Ye, based on his deep expertise in MetaMask, understands the importance of decentralization and permissionlessness for a Web3 project; while AI leader Jeremy has served millions of users at Ant Group, understanding every detail of large-scale deployment.
It is precisely this team background that gives them the courage to face challenges.
From 0 to 5 million users
"When we released the first test version, to be honest, we weren't sure how the market would react," recalled an early developer from CAI | CharacterX. But what happened next surprised the entire team.
In less than a year, CAI | CharacterX has attracted over 5 million users, with daily active users exceeding 200,000, and each user spending an average of 52 minutes on the platform daily.
Behind these data, there is not only recognition of the project but also a strong market demand for unrestricted AI.
Investor's Insight
Such achievements quickly attracted the attention of top investment institutions. In January 2024, CAI | CharacterX completed a $2.8 million seed round financing at a valuation of $30 million. The investors included Lightspeed Capital and other well-known institutions across various fields, such as INCE Capital.
"What we are optimistic about is not just the growth data of CAI | CharacterX, but their deep thinking about AI infrastructure," said a head of an investing institution, "in the AI field, teams that can truly build infrastructure are rare, and CAI | CharacterX has precisely seized this opportunity."
Ecological Layout and Strategic Cooperation
CAI's development is not limited to technological innovation but is also reflected in its extensive ecological layout. Since its launch, we have established deep cooperative relationships with multiple key ecosystems in the Web3 field.
In terms of public chain ecological layout, CAI has established deep cooperation with multiple important platforms. As the largest AI project in the Solana ecosystem, we hope to achieve a strategic partnership with the Solana Foundation; at the same time, we also plan to provide AI infrastructure support for the rapidly rising Scroll and explore AI application scenarios in emerging public chain ecosystems with Bera.
In terms of strategic cooperation, we are working with Oraichain, planning to collaborate on AI data validation and smart contract integration. Additionally, we are preparing to delve into identity and data analysis in the Web3 gaming space with Carv, and jointly promote the optimization and application development of AI models with Distilled AI to create a stronger AI infrastructure ecosystem.
"These partnerships not only reflect the industry's recognition of CAI's technical strength but also demonstrate our depth of layout in the Web3 AI infrastructure space," Ye explained, "each collaboration is carefully considered, aimed at enriching our ecosystem and providing more possibilities for users and developers."
Depth of Technological Innovation
CAI | CharacterX's uniqueness lies in their persistent pursuit of technology. The team conducts deep optimization and customized development based on Llama, while ensuring model capabilities, with a special focus on deployment efficiency and cost control.
"Technological innovation is not for the sake of innovation," Jeremy explained, "we are considering how to truly serve more users and businesses with AI technology. For example, our proud 7-day deployment framework is the result of repeated optimization."
Market Development and Opportunities
Currently, the global AI market is in a period of explosive growth. According to authoritative organizations, it is predicted that by 2030, the market size will reach $15.7 trillion, with an annual compound growth rate of 27%. Against this backdrop, CAI | CharacterX's layout becomes increasingly important.
"Our vision has never just been to create an AI application," Ye emphasized, "what we want to build is the infrastructure that truly brings AI to the masses." This vision is being validated by the market - several top exchanges have already begun discussions for the CAI | CharacterX TGE scheduled for Q4 2024.
A Promising Future
Today, CAI | CharacterX has grown from a newcomer in the Solana ecosystem to an important player in the Web3 AI field. But for the team, this is just the beginning.
"In the AI era, infrastructure is like the roads and bridges of the digital world," Gieno envisioned the future, "what we are building is a highway to unlimited possibilities for AI."
