SingularityNET (AGI) is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketplace focused project that was founded in 2017 by Ben Goertzel, Cassio Pennachin and Simone Giacomelli. The project attracted a lot of attention after its ICO in 2018 raised roughly $36 million in just 60 seconds. 

The SingularityNET platform is a building an AI marketplace where the power of AI, and its creation and distribution, is decentralized and democratic. The team wants to democratize the access of the powerful and emerging AI technology, and they believe that they can do this through the decentralized marketplace. 

Wishing to be as blockchain agnostic as possible, the team wishes to minimize the dependence on the Ethereum blockchain and they may even design their own consensus algorithm. Another major feature of the platform is the Daemon, “a sidecar proxy used to communicate with services and the network.” The AI marketplace is the third key element on the network, and is where users can purchase AI services.

The team also places a heavy emphasis on research with the intention of boosting the products and services to strengthen and sustain the long-term capabilities of the network. These research areas include semantic perception, reputation systems, language learning and alternatives to currency-based exchanges.

Progress since the project’s ICO has been swift, with the Beta version 2 of the platform already nearing completion in 2019. Milestones achieved this year include a Software Development Kit, and stability and performance improvements. Current development efforts include SingularityNET Enhancement Proposal (SNEP), a fiat to crypto gateway, a Marketplace DApp and support for additional pricing models.