$ORAI : World’s first AI powered oracle for blockchains

Introduction to $ORAI

The $ORAI chain project claims itslef to be the world’s first AI-powered oracle and ecosystem for blockchains.

The mission states the project’s desire to become an advanced AI Layer 1 for data economy and oracle services.

Current smart contracts cannot run AI models. There are three main reasons for this –
1. Lack of strict inputs – Smart contracts expect very strict inputs whereas AI models do not give 100% fixed results.
2. Environment – Smart contracts are mostly written in Solidity or Rust whereas AI models are typically written in Python.
3. Data size – Storage is a big issue on smart contracts because of the cost it takes sto store data on blockchains, AI models on the other hand are huge and take up a lot of memory.

Solutions by $ORAI

Solutions proposed by Oraichain are as follows:

• AI Oracles: Oraichain enables smart contracts to access external APIs. These APIs are the ones providing AI services.
• AI Marketplace: Gain access to, browse, and select a diverse array of AI algorithms and models from global providers. Enhance your applications by integrating AI services, elevating functionality and value.
• AI Provider: AI developers, whether individuals or companies, can publish, edit, and manage their work, earning rewards from users worldwide. This incentivizes model improvement, data collection, and continued provision of exceptional AI services.
• Staking & Earning: Staking equals earning. By staking ORAI tokens with one or more validators, you can engage as a system governor while increasing your earnings. Furthermore, your contributions positively impact network operations, creating mutual benefits.
• Users & AI Requests: Users can submit various requests for AI services not readily available elsewhere due to resource limitations of service providers. Supporting exceptional services with funds facilitates their growth and development.
• ORAI DAO: You wield governance power over the product serving you. Oraichain operates by, for, and with the community. The Oraichain team initiates projects, but any changes post-mainnet launch require review by validators and stakeholders.

What is an oracle?

In simpler terms, smart contracts are like agreements stored on a computer program called blockchain. But there’s a limitation: they can’t access information outside the blockchain, like weather updates or stock prices. Imagine a smart contract as a locked box – it can’t see what’s happening outside.

Here’s where oracles come in. Think of oracles as messengers who fetch information from the outside world and deliver it to the smart contract. They bridge the gap between the blockchain and real-world data, like a key unlocking that box to let information in.

Before, blockchains could only use their own data, which was limiting. But now, with oracles, they can tap into external sources, expanding their capabilities. Oracles can be nodes collecting data or scripts fetching information from APIs. They bring flexibility and functionality to blockchain, making it more versatile and powerful.

Oraichain provides an oracle that helps fetch external data securely and its architecture is designed to focus more on AI data sources as follows:

• Request format including input parameters and test cases
• API testing based test cases that are the unique functionality.
• Test providers proposing suitable test cases that users can choose to test an AI API.
• API marketplace and test-case marketplace
• High scalability and performance
• Cross-chain compatibility that is able to serve data to most publicly available blockchains. The target blockchains can verify data on Oraichain efficiently.

What is ORAIchain?

Oraichain, a public blockchain, enables users to generate various data requests. Beyond users, smart contracts can securely request data from AI APIs via Oraichain. Powered by Cosmos SDK and Terdemint’s Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus, this blockchain network enhances transaction confirmation speed.

The process of requesting data from AI APIs through Oraichain is depicted in the System Overview figure. To initiate a request, users or smart contracts must trigger an oracle script accessible on the ORAI gateway or marketplace. These scripts contain AI data sources, test cases, optional test sources, and transaction fees for each request. Upon a request, a randomly selected validator is tasked with its execution. The validator fetches data from AI providers after conducting test scenarios, canceling requests if providers fail testing.

Successful requests result in data being written to the Oraichain blockchain. Transaction results serve as proof of execution, with associated fees. Though reading results from Oraichain transactions incurs overhead, it ensures AI API quality and guards against data tampering during retrieval from providers.

Difference with $LINK

Compared to Band Protocol and Chainlink, Oraichain uniquely incorporates API testing-based test cases. Given Oraichain’s focus on AI APIs, robust testing is crucial for quality control. Additionally, test providers can propose suitable test cases, motivating AI providers to enhance model accuracy.

A notable feature allows the Oraichain community to rate validators’ reputations for improving AI API quality. Validators exhibiting poor behavior, such as test case failure or slow response times, face token slashing.

However, validators play crucial roles in Oraichain and could represent a centralized point. Therefore, increasing the number of chosen validators enhances request performance, scalability, and availability. As validators contribute significantly to the network, they receive block rewards and transaction fees in ORAI tokens.

Two methods incentivize validators and test case/data source providers:

1. Proposing and Validating Blocks: Validators receive rewards from transaction fees, with bonuses for block proposers based on their collected voting power. A community tax is deducted, with the remaining rewards distributed among validators.
2. Active Participation: Validators executing oracle scripts earn 20% of rewards by publishing reports. Providers of data sources and test cases receive the remaining 50%, ensuring fair compensation. Validator rewards are based on their voting powers. The remaining 30% of request fees, along with taxes, are allocated to the validator proposing the new block and the community pool.

$ORAI Tokenomics

Stats as on 26 March 2024:

Circulating Supply: 12,706,080 ORAI
Market Cap: $180M
Market Cap for $LINK (Another project from same domain): $11B

The native $ORAI token plays a vital role in the decentralized Oracle network of validators, serving various purposes:

1. Transaction Fees: ORAI tokens are necessary to execute AI requests and any other transactions within the Oraichain network.
2. Validator Staking: To participate in block creation or fulfill data requests, validators must stake ORAI tokens.
3. Network Governance: Oraichain operates in a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) manner, wherein token holders have the authority to vote on protocol upgrades and parameter changes. Holding ORAI tokens grants participation in network governance decisions.

The $ORAI Team

The team is completely doxxed and consists of some really strong names.

• Chung Dao – CEO & Co-Founder , PHD from the university of Tokyo
• Tu Pham – CTO & Co-Founder, also co-founder of multiple other projects
• Diep Nguyen – COO & CO-founder , PHD from Keio University

The $ORAI team was established in 2019 and has a dedicated mission to build a new era of Blockchain x Artificial Intelligence. The team consists of blockchain specialists, data scientists, engineers and advisors from all over the world.

Final Words

The project is very strong as it covers the hottest narrative of the 2024 bull market, ie, Artificial Intelligence. We have already seen the potential of something like $LINK in the previous runs and with nearly a 10B market cap for chainlink, there’s a lot of scope of potential for $ORAI as well.

As always, nothing is financial advice though and always do your own research. To check $ORAI website – link and to read other project reviews by us check our blogs page here – OCT Blogs.