Erik Voorhees, the founder of ShapeShift cryptocurrency exchange, has launched a new venture called Venice AI, which focuses on privacy in generative AI chatbots. Voorhees expressed concerns about the control large tech companies and governments have over AI technologies, leading to a dystopian future. He advocates for open-source decentralization as a countermeasure, providing users with alternative choices. Venice AI operates on a decentralized platform, ensuring user privacy by not storing data or accessing conversations. Instead, user input is sent through an encrypted proxy server to a decentralized GPU for processing. This model aims to be better than centralized companies that store user conversations tied to their identities.
ShapeShift transitioned into an open-source decentralized exchange controlled by the ShapeShift DAO in July 2021. Following a battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Voorhees shifted his focus towards building a permissionless, decentralized AI model. Venice AI does not store user data, providing security and anonymity by only transmitting the specific prompt to the GPU. Voorhees argues that central AI companies cannot be trusted to delete user data permanently, hence Venice AI avoids central repositories altogether. Chat history is stored locally in the user’s browser, which the user can choose to delete at any time.
Venice Pro, a subscription service priced at $49 annually, offers additional features including unlimited text prompts, removing watermarks from generated images, and turning off Safe Mode for unrestricted image generation. While digital currency payments are not yet accepted for Venice Pro subscriptions, Voorhees plans to introduce this feature in the future. Users holding the Morpheus token will receive a free Pro account indefinitely. Venice AI integrates with MetaMask wallets for a seamless user experience. Despite concerns about Morpheus network performance, Voorhees emphasized the importance of ensuring that AI solutions are on par with centralized companies to drive user adoption.
Major players in the AI industry such as Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and Meta have promoted responsible AI practices to improve the perception of generative AI. However, Voorhees believes that once a company has access to user information, it cannot be trusted to delete it permanently, leading to privacy concerns. Venice AI’s decentralized model aims to address these concerns by not storing user data in central repositories. Users can delete chat history stored in their browser at any time, even without creating an account. Venice AI prioritizes user privacy by avoiding access to user conversations and information, ensuring that the AI model runs securely and anonymously on a decentralized platform.
Voorhees hopes to provide users with an alternative choice by offering open-source AI solutions that prioritize privacy. Venice AI aims to revolutionize the AI industry by introducing a decentralized, permissionless model that does not store user data or have access to conversations. The platform operates on a decentralized Morpheus network, offering users the ability to interact with AI chatbots securely and anonymously. Membership to Venice Pro provides users with additional features like modifying prompts, higher message limits, and removing watermarks from generated images. Despite concerns about Morpheus network performance, Voorhees is committed to ensuring that AI solutions on Venice AI are at par with centralized companies for user adoption.
