The Secret Plan Behind GAIB (just between you and me)
Kony (CEO @GAIB_AI)
It all started on an ordinary Friday night earlier this year. I found myself in the quiet of our office meeting room, sketching ideas on a whiteboard with a marker that was running dry. I was thinking about how to better serve cloud companies and compute providers in decentralized compute networks. It turns out, that’s when the seed was planted.
1. Why the Move?
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“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”
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For those who know me, my decision to leave the comfort of my investor role came as a surprise. They all asked, “Why take the leap of faith?” Well, the answer is simple: investing has not always been my ultimate goal — building a business is.
I started my first company when I was just entering university. Back then, I knew nothing about running a business — setting up bank accounts, marketing, managing social media — I had ‘zero knowledge’ about it all. I only knew that it was something I wanted to experience, I believed I could do it, and I saw a genuine market need. The journey from zero to one was far from easy; the intensity and pressure often made me question why I had taken on such challenges. Looking back, I’m glad I persevered. Things started to fall into place once the business found its footing — breaking even after just three months and gradually scaling up from there.
The Missing Piece of AI & Compute: “-fi”
Over the past three years, my role as an investor allowed me to gain deep insights into the industry through the perspectives of many exceptional founders, and I was fortunate to support some of them on their journeys. As a big fan of AI, I became fascinated by the idea of merging crypto and AI. This curiosity led me to immerse myself in extensive industry research, exploring companies across applications, data, models, compute networks, and infrastructure.
Through this deep dive, I realized a significant gap in the market: the “-fi” (financialization) aspect was missing. I shared these insights with a friend, who then introduced me to my co-founder Alex (@alex_yehya). Within five minutes of our first call, we both said, “Let’s do it.” With his background in semiconductors and AI cloud, Alex clearly understood the challenges faced by AI cloud companies, data centers, and other compute providers — namely, the absence of “-fi” in the AI and compute market and the lack of real yield in crypto.
Jun, my other co-founder and CTO, also immediately recognized the untapped market potential when I first shared the idea with him. With his robust background in DeFi, Jun saw how blockchain could unleash immense value in this space. Together, we set out to fill this missing piece in the AI and compute ecosystem.
2. What Are We Trying to Do?
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“Lisan Al GAIB, the voice from the outer world.”
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The one and only thing we want to do is to bring the real AI cashflow to crypto, and break the ouroboros. (“The yield has to come from something external…” — @VitalikButerin)
As avid fans of Dune, we named our company GAIB, which means “the unseen” or “the future.” The name embodies the three pillars that we focus on: GPU, AI, and Finance. In the AI era, compute is the new currency, and GPUs are the new assets that empower the compute currency, capturing most of the value in the AI supply chain.
However, the problem is that there’s no established commodity market for compute assets like GPUs. This creates a barrier for anyone looking to directly invest in these high-value assets.
We are here to take down the barriers.
By tokenizing GPUs and their yields, we create yield-bearing assets that offer direct exposure to AI. On top of these assets, we’re building a suite of DeFi use cases to provide liquidity and financial functionality. These include GPU-backed stablecoins, lending and borrowing platforms, options and futures, structured products, and more.
Through these innovations, we bring tangible value to key industry stakeholders:
- For AI cloud companies and data centers: We help them raise capital and optimize their capital structure.
- For investors: We offer a direct channel to invest in the GPU asset class, providing attractive returns previously unavailable.
- For AI users and companies: We promote growth in the compute market, introducing more compute power to meet increasing demands.
- For the market as a whole: We address the gap by creating a market for compute assets, enabling a new era of financialization for the AI ecosystem and bringing real AI revenues into crypto.
Our vision is to transform GPUs and compute into investable assets, bridging AI and crypto to unlock unprecedented opportunities.
3. The Master Plan?
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“He who controls compute (spice), controls the universe.”
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AI is poised to drive the next tech platform shift that has the potential to become a super cycle after the mobile internet and cloud era. As noted in the Goldman Sachs report, AI has a potential to drive a 7% increase in global GDP — equivalent to $7 trillion — within the next decade. GAIB is at the center of growth of AI, RWA and DeFi, aiming to become the financial infrastructure for AI & compute future.
To Build a Vibrant AI Compute Economy
If AI is the brain, GPUs are its heart. Innovation in AI is deeply tied to advancements in hardware, and GAIB is committed to enabling a thriving AI compute economy to accelerate growth across the sector.
So the plan is,
- Build a financial infrastructure
- Use that to build tokenized compute assets
- Use that to build DeFi use cases
- While doing the above, bringing external yield backed by real AI cashflow into crypto ecosystem.
Do tell everyone. Keep BUIDLing.
Acknowledgements
Transitioning from an investor to a founder has been an incredibly challenging journey, yet it’s also the most thrilling part of building a startup — charting a path that no one has walked before. As I shared in my update to our investors, this uncharted journey is what makes the experience so rewarding.
I am fortunate to be surrounded by a team of talented, like-minded individuals who share my vision and passion for the future of AI and compute. Their determination and resilience inspire me daily as we tackle every challenge together.
I am deeply grateful for the unwavering support of my co-founders, our team, friends, investors, advisors, and everyone who has offered their guidance, shared their knowledge, or lent a helping hand along the way
To all of you, a heartfelt “Thank You!” for being part of this journey.
Special thanks goes to:
- Hack @hack_vc: @alpackaP, @ed_roman, @herbiefu and rest of the team for having convictions in what we are building, advising and helping from the early stage and leading our round
- Faction @FactionVC: @BFATHIEH, @0xSamHarrison, @0xcb3, Tim, @Will_Leas and the team for being die-hard fans of Dune, and GAIB (haha) and demonstrated deep knowledge in the AI space with strong belief in the compute market
- Hashed @hashed_official: @0xryankim, @danpark012 and the team for believing in us, and having us as one of the few AI portcos
- L2IV @l2iterative: @klee_049, @weikengchen, @0xdenniswon and the broader L2 Capital team for supporting me on the new journey
- Spartan @TheSpartanGroup: @LionelPek, @tommy182145, @SpartanBlack_1, @itzjustcal, @ericnicomedez and the rest of the team for supporting us without hesitations
- CMCC @CMCC_Global: @Hedwigcrypto @oneyenonly for making intros and opening doors for us
- Animoca Brands @animocabrands: @0xAbcdave, @LuciusFang10, @MehdiFarooq2 for bridging us with strategic partners
- MH Ventures @MH_Ventures: @Lincoln_MHV, @0xKDOT, @collectorofgems for candid advice and broad connections
- IVC @ivcryptofund: @clementality_, @AnnChien, JT, @tanakaakio and the team
- IDG Blockchain @IDGCV: Kiet and the team for being long-standing supporter and opening up doors in the region
- Aethir @AethirCloud: Dan, @MRRydon, @JainKartik33 for being strong allies, friends and advisors for everything
- Near @NearFoundation: @markkmii, @Cameron_Dennis_, Dwayne for supporting us to build on Near
- @0xhopydoc @0xArhat for helping us on research and partner introductions
A lot other friends, partners or investors that I need to thank:
@Presto_Labs (Glen, @stateroot), @J17Crypto (@0xsky404, @RH_0729), @280capital (@0xMetable, @0xCrabLegs), @AlyssaTsai (@PANewsCN), @benhwx, @BrianRetford, @CharlieHusats (@BitlayerLabs), @wordsforgot (@cytonic_com), @chriseyin (@plumenetwork), @chundamccain (@nucleusearn, @ionprotocol), @dlubarov (@0xPolygonZero), @EvansHuangfu, Gideon (Three Point Capital), @trackoor (@nubit_org), @Igalb77, @josietyleung (@josietyleung), @dappiokeeper (@ZeusnetworkHQ), @LucasKozinski (@RenzoProtocol), @mheinrich (@0G_labs), Nabeel (Three Point Capital), Rabia (@NuralCapital), @vanishree_rao (@fermah_xyz), @0x50so, @michaeljin_77 (@10kventure), @danie_kr and more.
