Why Decentralized AI (deAI) Will Win


Lilypad believes collaborative deAI infrastructure will outcompete centralized AI platforms by design. Below are the structural advantages and differentiators driving this belief:
๐ธ 1. Native Payment Rails
Definition: Integrated crypto and fiat settlement mechanisms built into the protocol.
Why it matters: Unlocks global, frictionless participation: whether by a scientist in Kenya or a GPU provider in Vietnam.
Lilypad edge: Combines Web3 wallets, Stripe fiat integration, and automated smart contract payments.
๐งฌ 2. Provenance Pipelines
Definition: Track model and data lineage, ownership, and usage history.
Why it matters: Enables auditability, royalty distribution, and bias inspection in remixed AI models.
Lilypad edge: Cryptographic job verification + on-chain records provide traceable model provenance.
๐ 3. Permissionless Global Participation
Definition: Anyone can host models, contribute compute, or run inference jobs.
Why it matters: Opens up innovation to solopreneurs, SMEs, and underserved regions.
Lilypad edge: Full-stack platform (marketplace, job runner, monetization) with open interfaces (CLI/API/GUI).
โ๏ธ 4. Fair Creator Economics
Definition: Transparent, automated revenue sharing for model creators and compute providers.
Why it matters: Avoids exploitative, opaque compensation models seen in centralized platforms.
Lilypad edge: Model owners set pricing and earn per use; rewards flow directly to wallets, on-chain.
๐ 5. Composable Infrastructure
Definition: Easily integrates with agents, storage, data lakes, and other Web3 systems.
Why it matters: Enables dynamic pipelines, collaborative AI stacks, and network effects.
Lilypad edge: Designed for plug-and-play interoperability with agent frameworks, Filecoin, Vana, and more.
๐ 6. Censorship Resistance
Definition: No centralized authority can restrict model deployment, data use, or job execution.
Why it matters: Protects open scientific research, politically sensitive tools, and grassroots innovation.
Lilypad edge: Fully on-chain execution and settlement ensures verifiable, tamper-proof job provenance.
๐ง 7. Designed for the Future
Context: Proprietary AI moats are collapsing. The AI economy is shifting to: Custom, fine-tuned models Agentic workflows User-owned infrastructure
Lilypad belief: Only open, verifiable, and economically aligned platforms can scale with this explosion.
Lilypadโs Core Philosophy
"AI should be a public good - not a corporate asset."
As a full stack AI services platform, Lilypad provides a model marketplace, MLops tooling, and a distributed, on-demand compute network for scaling AI inference for ML pipelines, agent workflows and more.
Letโs build (actually) open AI together.
Subscribe to my newsletter
Read articles from Alison Haire directly inside your inbox. Subscribe to the newsletter, and don't miss out.
Written by

Alison Haire
Alison Haire
Let's talk about the real things. Founder @ Lilypad Compute Network prev-@Protocol Labs | @Filecoin | @Lilypad_Tech PM | Advisor @GodwokenRises | prev-@IBM TechJam Podcast Co-Host | coder, engineer, dog lover ๐, global citizen ๐, entrepreneur ๐ฉโ๐ป, aspiring francophone ๐ฅ