Vitalik Buterin calls for an Ethereum-led alternative to AGI

Buterin Ethereum's potential is limitless

Ethereum co - founder Vitalik Buterin yesterday published a widely discussed essay titled " The Race for General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) Shouldn't Be a Race – and Ethereum Can Help Make It a Race ," in which he argues that the current centralized, " winner-take-all " momentum surrounding the development of general artificial intelligence (AGI) is dangerous and that decentralized, open-source , cryptographically secure coordination mechanisms built on Ethereum could create a significantly safer and more diverse path toward robust AI.

Vitalik describes the current race as a classic arms race: numerous large organizations ( OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, xAI, Meta, etc. ) compete to be the first to achieve AGI , with strong incentives to cut costs on security, synchronization, and transparency to avoid falling behind.

He explicitly warned that this dynamic increases the likelihood of serious misalignment or concentration of power: “ When the reward is ‘superior intelligence’ and the penalty for second place is the risk of being forgotten, the pressure to race is immense. History shows that arms races rarely end well .”

Why does Ethereum have a unique position ?

Buterin argues that Ethereum offers a fundamentally different collaborative model. Ethereum isn't optimized for raw performance or security; it's optimized for reliable neutrality, transparency, and coherence. These characteristics make it a natural platform for coordinating AI research, funding, and deployment in an auditable and community-managed manner.

Instead of building a single, dominant general artificial intelligence (AGI) , Ethereum can support multiple specialized, limited AIs, governed by clear and verifiable rules.

A core idea in Buterin 's thinking is pluralism rather than domination. Instead of a single superintelligence controlled by a small group, he envisions ecosystems of AI agents with limited scope, clear accountability, and controls enforced through cryptography and smart contracts.

A new challenge or opportunity ?

Buterin 's call stands in stark contrast to the hyped-up " AI tokens ," which are merely tokenizations of computing power or branding. His vision focuses less on financialization and more on institutional design—using the fundamental principles of cryptocurrency to address the coordination flaws in AI development.

If implemented, this could steer the integration of cryptocurrency and AI away from speculation and toward governance, security, and resilience.

An Ethereum -led alternative doesn't eliminate the challenges. Decentralized systems can be slower, harder to coordinate, and less efficient than centralized systems. Furthermore, research into general artificial intelligence (AGI) still requires massive computing resources that blockchain alone cannot provide.

Assessment and Conclusion

Vitalik's essay is not a departure from a rollup-focused roadmap—but rather an expansion of Ethereum's mission. He argues that the same characteristics that make Ethereum the most secure and neutral payment layer are also the strongest candidate to prevent a "winner-take-all " race leading to artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The article reshapes Ethereum not just as a scaling solution, but as a civilized infrastructure — a coordinating layer capable of steering humanity's most powerful technology toward diverse, transparent, and verifiable outcomes, rather than centralized control.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is the author's personal opinion in the field of cryptocurrency. This is not financial or investment advice. All investment decisions should be based on careful consideration of your personal portfolio and risk tolerance. The views expressed in this article do not represent the official stance of the platform. We recommend that readers conduct their own research and consult with experts before making any investment decisions.

Compiled and analyzed by HCCVenture

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