Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), a decentralized blockchain network that expands the capability of Web3, is celebrating its third anniversary with the release of its “Year 4 Internet Computer Roadmap”. This updated roadmap focuses on positioning ICP as the hub for Decentralized AI and the orchestration layer for the blockchain industry, while also highlighting the progress made over the past three years.
Since its introduction in May 2021, the Internet Computer blockchain has achieved impressive milestones. It has processed over three billion blocks, experienced zero outages, and accumulated over $3 billion in value locked in the Network Nervous System (NNS) DAO, which governs the Internet Computer Protocol. The ICP ecosystem has also witnessed significant growth in developer numbers, increasing twelve-fold between 2020 and 2023, according to Electric Capital. Additionally, popular crypto applications like DMail, DSCVR, and OpenChat are hosted on the ICP platform.
The fourth-year roadmap for ICP outlines several major milestones and key focus areas. Two main features, Chain Fusion and Decentralized AI, take center stage in this new roadmap.
According to Dominic Williams, the founder and chief scientist of the DFINITY Foundation, “The Internet Computer is the first and only public blockchain of the Third Generation.” The ultimate goal is to achieve a “blockchain singularity,” where completely decentralized blockchains surpass other tech stacks worldwide and enable unstoppable AI. With the new roadmap, the DFINITY Foundation, along with its team of engineers, research scientists, and cryptographers, are driving this cause forward by creating network upgrades that enhance speed, effectiveness, and power.
Decentralized AI is a critical component of ICP’s roadmap. It aims to enable on-chain training and operation of AI models. Currently, most AI models function as “black boxes,” leaving users with no control over their data usage or the accuracy and reliability of the models’ responses. ICP’s powerful computing capacity and smart contract expressiveness position it well to address these issues.
The Decentralized AI roadmap includes milestones such as a 10x increase in speed and faster deterministic floating-point operations, AI inference engine optimization, and the development of libraries, tools, and specifications for GPU-based AI computations. If the long-term objectives are met, groundbreaking use cases will become possible, such as AI smart contracts utilizing autonomous blockchain KYC, AI smart contracts evaluating Ethereum smart contract code for issues, and natural language communication with LLM AI smart contracts.
ICP has been actively working towards bringing AI on-chain and providing reliable AI models to developers and consumers. In July of last year, the DFINITY Foundation introduced a $5 million decentralized artificial intelligence (DeAI) grant program to support Decentralized AI on the Internet Computer blockchain. Several cutting-edge AI projects, including ICGPT, DecideAI, ELNA AI, Kinic, and Earthstream, are already building on ICP.
Chain Fusion is another significant feature outlined in the roadmap. It enables direct interoperability with popular blockchains like Ethereum, Bitcoin, and soon Solana, without the need for intermediaries. ICP smart contracts allow developers to create contracts that span multiple chains, addressing tribalism in the blockchain sector and resolving liquidity fragmentation.
The growth plan for Chain Fusion includes milestones such as canister smart contracts holding and trading tokens on EVM chains, full decentralized support for Bitcoin ordinals and runes, and the upcoming addition of support for Solana, bridging the gap between the Solana network and ICP.
The complete “Year 4 Internet Computer Roadmap” can be found on the ICP website, providing a comprehensive overview of the planned developments and advancements for the future of the Internet Computer Protocol.