Today, smart contracts are limited in their functionalities and not as “smart” as the name suggests. They are isolated from the outside world and can execute low-level code, so only incremental improvements are possible for decentralized applications. We think that smart contracts need to be more than “smart”; they should become intelligent.

We’re excited to announce the successful closing of our $7.5 million seed round led by North Island Ventures to build the First Intelligent Blockchain, enabling AI-powered smart contracts, known as Intelligent Contracts. 

A sincere thank you goes out to our investors for their support and confidence to scale GenLayer and redefine the future of smart contracts. Our investor group includes Node Capital, Arrington Capital, TykheBlock, ZK Ventures, Cogitent, MS2 Capital, Samara AG, DCF Capital, WAGMI Ventures, Sigmas Capital, Magnus Capital, MH Ventures, BlockBuilders, and various angels. 

GenLayer is also supported by industry veterans, including Arthur Hayes and his family office investment fund, Maelstrom, further strengthening the project's expert network and connectivity in the web3 industry.

Building the Intelligence Layer of the Internet

Blockchains suffer from an isolation issue: they’re disconnected from the Internet. The only way to introduce off-chain or real-world data into blockchains is through oracles, which are limited to existing data sources and add a degree of centralization. More than that Blockchains are also not capable of understanding natural language instructions as they can only deal with code. This limits their capabilities and is causing stagnation in the entire crypto ecosystem; most new dApps are forks or only incremental improvements. 

GenLayer presents a solution to those problems, enabling Intelligent Contracts to use AI models and access the Internet’s knowledge to make complex decisions in a decentralized manner. Additionally, Intelligent Contracts can process natural language instructions, and handle non-deterministic operations, enabling a whole new generation of smart contract logic that is not possible under the limitations of current blockchain infrastructure. 

The GenLayer blockchain, composed of a Consensus Layer and a Virtual Machine, leverages AI to achieve consensus on subjective tasks through a unique mechanism called Optimistic Democracy. The delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPOS) system involves a randomly selected subset of five validators, each connected to a different LLM. The leader proposes an output, which the other four validators compare against their own results, voting on whether to accept it. If a majority agrees, the transaction is processed; if not, a new leader is chosen. An appeal window follows validation, allowing participants to post a bond and double the validator set for a re-evaluation. 

How to get involved

We invite developers to discover and help build a new paradigm of decentralized applications powered by AI: smart contracts that are directly connected to the Internet, understand natural language, and can make complex decisions independently in a distributed manner.

You can experience GenLayer through:

• Simulator: interactive sandbox designed for developers to explore the potential of GenLayer's Intelligent Contracts. It replicates the GenLayer network's execution environment and consensus algorithm but offers a controlled and local environment to test different ideas and behaviors.
• GitHub: you can check the codebase for the simulator and consensus algorithm in our GitHub
• Documentation: read the docs for further details on how to build with GenLayer
• Whitepaper: Do you want to dive deeper into the tech? Check the whitepaper 
• Discord: Join the community, get your developer role and start discussing the future of decentralized applications with us!

You may find less technical explainers about the GenLayer technology in the blog.

• GenLayer: The Intelligence Layer of the Internet
• What are AI Powered Smart Contracts
• What is GenLayer? The Fundamentals Part I
• What is GenLayer? The Fundamentals Part II

GenLayer is making huge steps towards a decentralized world with Intelligent Contracts. Our primary focus is on launching a testnet before the end of this year, representing a major milestone in creating the First Intelligent Blockchain. In the meantime, we're committed to creating a lively developer ecosystem. We'll be rolling out various developer support programs designed to engage, educate, and empower our community of builders. These initiatives will prepare developers for the upcoming testnet and lay the foundation for a new era of decentralized applications powered by AI and Blockchain.

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