Executive Summary
Heurist is a ZK layer-2 blockchain network that leverages distributed GPU resources to provide scalable, serverless AI services. It is a ZK layer-2 DePIN protocol where GPU owners can supply compute resources, and users can run AI or other GPU-heavy applications with simple API/SDK access. This cost-efficient infrastructure enables them to build an open ecosystem that empowers developers to create, deploy, and monetize innovative AI solutions.
The protocol is focused on democratizing AI Inference by enabling serverless access to open-source AI models with low fees and enhanced privacy. However, it is not limited to AI inference; GPU compute can also be used for training small language models, model fine-tuning, and ZK proof generation.
The Heurist ecosystem includes an AI dApp store, a decentralized model registry (dModel Cloud), and an SDK for seamless integration for Web2 and Web3 developers. The platform also allows GPU miners to contribute computational power for decentralized AI infrastructure.
About the Project
Vision:
Heurist Protocol’s vision is to make AI compute resources accessible and scalable. It achieves this by offering a flexible and efficient solution that adapts to applications’ dynamic needs. The protocol’s elastic nature focuses on two key aspects: the ability to scale compute resources to meet fluctuating demand and an adaptive token emission mechanism that responds to network activity.
Problem:
Existing GPU clouds allow users to rent GPUs directly, but managing the GPU machines requires technical expertise and additional labor costs. Furthermore, scaling compute resources up or down depending on demand is challenging, thus limiting the adoption of GPU DePINs.
Solution:
Heurist implements serverless computing in the core protocol design, separating infrastructure and applications from one another. So, there are no virtual machines to manage or software framework dependencies to set up. Heurist’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model provides the ability to scale resources dynamically based on real-time, ever-changing demand. The infrastructure management runs in the background behind easy-to-use APIs and frontends.
To demonstrate the power of Heurist’s serverless GPU DePIN, the team has built multiple free-to-use AI applications and services as follows:
- Heurist Imagine: Create images with fine-tuned Stable Diffusion and Flux models. There is also a create-to-earn campaign that rewards your creativity.
- Heurist Search: AI-powered search engine.
- Pondera: A chatbot assistant that makes the best language models available to everyone. It can help write blogs, build software, solve math problems, and more.
- Babel Bot: The translation bot for Discord servers for any language.
Market Analysis
According to a report published by MarketAndMarkets, the global AI market is projected to grow from $214B in 2024 to $1.33T in 2030, at a CAGR of 35.7% during the forecast period. Advancements in computational power, data availability, and adoption across various industries for automation, analytics, and content creation drive this growth.
The Heurist platform operates at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology, focusing on Generative AI and creating a decentralized GPU compute network. According to a Statista report, the market size for Generative AI is expected to reach $36.06B by the end of 2024 and a massive $356.1B by the end of 2030, with an annual growth rate of 46.47%.
Features
Heurist is creating a permissionless, efficient, and user-friendly decentralized GPU cloud, and the following are the platform’s key components.
Compute Layer:
The Compute Layer consists of Compute Nodes, Pods, and Validation System.
- Compute Nodes are fundamental compute resource units representing individual or fractional GPUs. Consumer and datacenter grade GPU owners can join as computer providers (miners) without any fixed-term commitment, making them ideal for monetizing idle compute resources.
- Pods are self-contained, deployable workload units that use GPUs and can specify their hardware and software requirements. A pod can be an AI model, a workflow coordinating multiple AI models, fine-tuning-as-a-service software, or a ZK-proof generation service. The system dynamically adjusts the number of active compute nodes hosting each pod to ensure optimal resource allocation and cost efficiency.
- The Validation System ensures the integrity and reliability of compute results, including staking mechanisms and various verification methods tailored to different workloads.
Orchestration Layer:
Heurist is a layer 2 blockchain that coordinates the ecosystem and cloud operations. It is built using ZK Stack and is called Elastic Chain, which brings the following benefits.
- The ZK chain offers high throughput and low costs with a pay-per-use pricing model. It aggregates changes to the same storage slots across multiple transactions into one data slot update, which significantly reduces gas costs.
- As part of the Elastic Chain ecosystem, Heurist can interact with other chains without complex bridging mechanisms, enabling seamless interoperability.
- The operations on the Heurist chain are not affected by transactions outside of the ecosystem, ensuring Sovereignty. This isolation ensures that the cloud operations, resource management, and payment system remain reliable, irrespective of market fluctuations.
Application Layer:
- Anyone can build a front end to interface with the Heurist protocol and access the distributed compute cloud. A front end can be a web application, a mobile app, an API gateway, or an integration into a specialized industry interface.
- There are payment gateways to cater to the needs of Web2 and Web3 users, with the following two approaches:
- Pay-by-Developer: Prepayment of computing resources in the form of credits. Here, application developers bear compute resource costs, and their profits are derived from the difference between user-generated revenue and service costs.
- Pay-by-User: Users interacting with the application through crypto wallets pay to compute fees directly through smart contracts. This approach is more capital-efficient as users are charged only for specific compute resources they consume. It enables novel user cases like blockchain AI agents that can autonomously pay for their compute needs.
Token
The native token of the Heurist Protocol is $HEU, with a maximum supply of 1 billion. It provides a default mechanism for storing and exchanging value in the ecosystem.
The token serves as the gas token for transactions and is used to pay for compute resources. It can also be staked to secure the network and earn protocol feels, as well as to vote on governance decisions.
The token started trading on December 9, 2024, on several exchanges, including Aerodrome, MEXC, Gate.io, PancakeSwap, and Uniswap V3. As of today, it has a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $293M, as per CoinGecko.
Traction
Within the first year of launching the protocol, Heurist processed over 1 billion AI inference requests and created over 342 million images. They have enlisted over 13,900 GPU miners who contribute resources by hosting over 30 decentralized AI models that hundreds of developers have adopted.
Team
Jiewen Wang is the founder of Heurist and has a background in software development at Amazon, game development at Netease Games, and machine learning at iRevo Multimedia. Tao He is a co-founder with software development experience at Amazon, and Manish Byatroy is another co-founder and COO with software engineering experience at NVIDIA.
Investors
Heurist Protocol raised a $2M Pre-Seed Round in November 2024. Notable investors include Amber Group, Contango Digital Assets, Manifold, Selini Capital, Sharding Capital, X Ventures, and a few angel investors.
Conclusion
Heurist is at the intersection of blockchain technology and AI computation, offering a decentralized GPU cloud that addresses key issues of scalability, cost, and technical management in current cloud computing models. They have built an ecosystem where AI developers can access serverless computing power through a simple API/SDK interface, significantly lowering the entry barrier for AI application development and deployment.
The protocol’s strategic market positioning aligns with exponential growth forecasts for both AI and generative AI markets, indicating a huge potential for adoption and growth. With a strong team and solid investor backing, it has gained substantial traction and, thus, acceptance within the developer community.
Looking ahead, Heurist’s success hinges on its ability to maintain and expand its network of GPU miners while ensuring its security and efficiency. It has the potential to significantly impact how AI services are developed, deployed, and monetized in a decentralized, user-friendly, and economically viable way.
| Fundamental Score | |||||
| Max score | Options | Score | |||
| Problem | 10 | Significant, long-term problem | 9 | ||
| Solution | 10 | Some uniqueness, moderate defensibility | 7 | ||
| Market Size | 10 | Large market, significant growth potential | 8.5 | ||
| Competitors | 10 | Emerging market with few strong competitors | 8.5 | ||
| Use case | 10 | Use case with good potential | 8.5 | ||
| Current Traction | 10 | Early traction, user engagement starting to grow | 6 | ||
| Unit Economics | 5 | Unit economics currently negative, no clear path to profitability | 1 | ||
| Tokenomics | 10 | Basic token strategy, potential for improvement | 7 | ||
| Product Roadmap | 5 | Unclear or unrealistic product roadmap | 1 | ||
| Business Model | 10 | Business model with some potential, but improvement needed | 7 | ||
| Go-to-Market Strategy | 5 | Solid GTM strategy, clear target market and channels | 4 | ||
| Community | 5 | Small community, with scope of expanding. | 2 | ||
| Regulatory Risks | 5 | Minimal regulatory risk, strong mitigation and adaptability | 5 | ||
| Total Score | 70.95% | ||||
