Solana Integrates ChatGPT Plug-in, Launches AI Accelerator

The Solana Foundation has announced the official integration of a ChatGPT plug-in developed by Solana Labs, marking the official integration of AI into its network. 

The announcement comes as the artificial intelligence (AI) space has seen interest from crypto players, big and small, increase in recent months. 

Solana And AI 

According to the Solana Foundation, the open-source reference implementation allows users to interact with the Solana network directly from ChatGPT through a plug-in. The plug-in is available for download on GitHub. Solana Labs first revealed the new plug-in in a teaser in Late April and will be targeted towards end users during its initial phase, helping them onboard into the growing Web 3.0 ecosystem. It can also be used to purchase and list NFTs, find NFT collections by floor price, check out transactions, and transfer tokens. The Solana Foundation, in a statement, said, 

“This integration from Solana Labs serves as a reference for how AI can make it easier to understand Solana data and protocols or surface data about Solana’s computing infrastructure and DeFi projects.”

Solana Labs CEO and Solana Co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko added that AI integration would help in making the Solana blockchain more understandable and usable. 

“Every developer building consumer-oriented apps should be thinking about how their app is going to be interacted with through an AI model because this is a new paradigm for telling computers what to do.”

Simplicity For Users And Developers 

According to Tal Tchwella, the head of product at Solana Labs, Solana will plug ChatGPT into an RPC node that can access data from multiple sources on-chain and answer user questions. Users can ask the AI questions regarding NFT collections and which ones they can buy. The initial focus of the plug-in will be on NFTs, thanks to Solana’s growing volume of NFT sales. However, there is also an effort on the developer front to help accelerate AI growth within its ecosystem. The integration offers a new way for developers and users to ask service questions while simplifying the entire experience. 

“We believe that the blockchain space is way too technical. Bringing the popular ChatGPT service to Solana “offers a new opportunity for people to engage with it and understand what’s really happening.”

Instead of reading mountains of documentation, AI could access it and answer queries posted to it. 

Solana’s AI Accelerator Program 

Apart from the plug-in, Solana also announced an AI-focused accelerator program for university-level students. The announcement was made in early April. 

“The Solana Foundation also kicked off a 3-month long accelerator program for university students that has a full cohort dedicated to experimenting with blockchain and AI.”

Solana separately announced that it was expanding its grant program for AI-focused projects building on Solana from $1 million to $10 million. Following the announcement, Solana has received over 50 applications, with the foundation already approving grants for some projects. The update was made through Solana Foundation’s official Twitter handle. 

“Update: The fund supporting projects at the intersection of the @Solana blockchain and AI has been expanded to $10 million.”

Solana Sees Surge In Activity 

Meanwhile, Solana has registered a surge in activity on its network during the current month. This can be attributed to high fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have pushed users to find other alternatives. Last week, the seven-day moving average of new addresses hit 323,000, which is the highest figure recorded since June 2022, according to data sourced from The Block. The data shows that Solana has added more new addresses this month than what it registered in each of the past six months. 

The protocol’s native SOL token has also dramatically recovered, rising 101% year-to-date. Currently, the token is trading at $19.48.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.