Background: AI track is more meme-like than meme
AI has always been regarded as the biggest narrative in this cycle besides memes, but in fact, most AI projects are jokingly called the same as meme coins. First, Web 3 AI projects do not have many actual products. Second, the narrative of combining AI with Web 3 is not natural, and it always gives people the feeling that cryptocurrency is forcibly combined with AI. The most successful case of AI application in cryptocurrency recently is its combination with memes. The emergence of GOAT has detonated market sentiment, and various AI + meme coins have sprung up, such as GNON, ACT, SLOP, Shoggoth, etc.
In fact, the aforementioned meme coins are not simply AI elements, but are created by AI Agents. So what are AI Agents? Which projects are worth paying attention to? WOO X Research will review them in this article.
What is AI Agent?
AI Agent refers to artificial intelligence that can complete tasks autonomously without human intervention.
Traditional large language models give you rough information and frameworks, while AI Agents can provide more detailed information that fits the usage scenario. Therefore, AI Agents have greater potential in solving complex problems and automating tasks, and can provide more specific and practical solutions.
For example, if you ask AI how to buy the cheapest headphones online, LLM may provide a general answer and list the basic steps. The AI Agent will help the user place an order directly online, just like an assistant in real life.
Currently, representative products of AI Agent in Web 2 include Perplexity, which is specifically used for search, Notebooklm launched by Google for organizing long texts, Character, a virtual character creation system, etc., which are all representative cases of AI Agent.
How does AI Agent combine with Web 3?
- Model training: Infrastructure projects require users to provide data as model training materials, and users who provide data can obtain project revenue sharing in the form of tokens. The more users there are, the higher the platform income will be, which will attract more data providers and improve model training. This method has a flywheel effect of stepping on the right foot more than the centralized data model of the general Web 2. However, at present, since AI development is still in its early stages and it is still in the stage of competing for market share, coupled with the low population base of Web 3, this model has not brought significant results.
- Eliminating information gaps in the industry: The blockchain itself is open and transparent, allowing people to create and use financial products and other services without permission, but it also causes market information to be too complex. Data and information are often scattered across different platforms and applications, making it difficult for users to obtain comprehensive and accurate information. AI Agent can provide clear and simplified analysis and suggestions by integrating data from different blockchains, helping users better understand market dynamics, project risks and opportunities.
- AI Agent Tokenization: You can sell your own AI Agents on the market, providing users with incentives to create AI Agents. On the other hand, it can enhance the product richness of the AI Agent issuance platform and enhance the token value capture capability.
The following is a brief introduction to three AI Agent projects:
Myshell: Users can create their own AI Agent
Myshell is a platform that allows users to build their own AI Agents. Users can also sell their own AI Agents in the official store and make profits by providing them to other users. Transactions are denominated in BNB. Currently, most of the chatbots on the market are female anime chatbots. The categories include work assistants, data query, online learning, etc., and also provide a variety of language models for selection, including GPT series, Gemini, Claude, Meta Llama, etc.
Currently, the official continues to carry out points activities, and will launch the native token SHELL in the future, which will be mainly used to unlock advanced functions, reward robot developers and pay usage fees.
The team has completed three rounds of financing, raising at least $16.6 million in total. The highlight was that Binance Labs invested in it on August 15. In addition, the Pre Seed round was led by the well-known crypto VC Dragonfly, and there were as many as 19 other institutional investors and independent investors. It is worth mentioning that former Coinbase CTO & A16Z general partner Balaji Srinivasan also participated in the investment.
Virtual: AI Agent platform focusing on entertainment
Virtual believes that AI Agents are the future of AI, and they focus on making these agents run in applications and games, and by leveraging the characteristics of Web 3, they can tokenize and co-own these AI Agents through blockchain. The simplest example can be used in NPCs in RPG games. If each NPC character is a different AI Agent and can coexist across game platforms, it will also allow players to build a deeper and more sticky gaming experience, ultimately increasing game revenue.
VIRTUAL Agents, currently developed by Virtual Protocol, feature characters that can move and speak in 3D space, use their own wallets to conduct on-chain transactions, and most importantly, can tokenize these VIRTUAL Agents and trade them. (Opening a pool)
The representative project of VIRTUAL Agents is Luna, an AI Vtuber that broadcasts live on Youtube 24 hours a day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19rf34ffTM). Viewers can chat and interact with him on Virtual’s official website.
AI Agents generated using Vittual can only be exchanged with the platform currency VIRTUAL, and different proportions of taxes are charged when buying and selling, which also enhances the value capture ability of Virtual tokens. Currently, the market value of Virtual is about 111 million US dollars; the market value of Luna is about 50 million US dollars. Other currencies such as Game and Convo have had good currency price performance recently.
Creator.Bid: A meme coin issuance platform under the AI filter
The main feature is to create your own AI Agent in the simplest way, you can tokenize your AI Agent to earn rewards, and share it on platforms such as Twitter, Telegram and CreatorBid.
NFT is used to ensure the uniqueness of AI Agent, ensuring that no two agents share the same code, and the NFT can also be bought, sold or transferred, providing flexibility. Its model is similar to the meme launch platform. After the creation is completed, the initial purchase quantity must be entered. Its issuance method is reminiscent of Friend Tech and Pump Fun. The platform will later issue the token $AGENT as a value capture and governance tool, making the overall product economic model more flywheel-like.
The financing has been completed, but the amount has not been disclosed. Investors include Mechanism Capital (early investor of ARB), Zee Prime Capital (early investor of SOL) and Moonrock Capital (early investor of MNT). The multiple superposition of Ponzi + SocialFi + AI Agent concepts deserves continued attention.
