The past week saw relatively low crypto funding activity, primarily due to the July Fourth holiday in the U.S.

Despite the holiday lull, several notable funding activities showcased the ever-growing interest in the potential of web3 innovations.

Sentient, $85 million

Sentient, an artificial intelligence (AI) research organization, collected an impressive $85 million in seed funding. 

Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer is integrating high-performance computing and AI technologies while prioritizing transparency and vertical integration to revolutionize the mining industry.

With U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s ambitious plans to mine all future Bitcoin in the U.S., Bitcoin mining has become a pivotal element in his bid for the presidency. Talks of crypto and Bitcoin mining are dominating political campaigns and procedures.

The marriage of Bitcoin mining with cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) is reshaping the industry. Publicly traded miners are exploring these technologies to diversify revenue streams and ensure sustainable growth.

Bitdeer, a Singapore-headquartered Bitcoin mining company, has emerged as a standout in this competitive field. According to a recent Cantor report, Bitdeer is poised to become one of the largest miners globally, with plans to add 1,079MW of power to its data centers — enough to power nearly 900,000 homes or one large nuclear power plant. This expansion underscores Bitdeer’s ambition to become one of the biggest data centers in the world.

In an interview with crypto.news, Jeff LaBerge, Head of Capital Market & Strategic Initiatives at Bitdeer, gave insights into the company’s innovative practices and strategic initiatives.

Managing conflicts of interest

LaBerge emphasized the importance of transparency when asked about potential conflicts of interest, especially with AI companies buying more and more mining companies. 

AI companies purchasing Bitcoin mining equipment can lead to transparency flaws, as using these AI technologies in mining operations obscures ownership, use cases and control structures, complicating financials and potentially facilitating illicit activities.

“We believe that keeping our contracts and terms specific and transparent allows us to manage potential conflicts of interest,” LaBerge said. “Each of our hosting customers has a detailed contract that explicitly states the amount of electricity they are contracted to draw and the payment terms associated with that power.”

To ensure this transparency, Bitdeer independently manages and operates mining rigs for both self-mining and hosting services, monitoring each rig’s status to ensure accurate logs of utilization, hash rate, and power consumption.

Proprietary vs. Hosted Mining

Bitdeer employs proprietary mining methods to boost efficiency and profitability. By utilizing various services in Bitcoin mining, Bitdeer can optimize resource allocation and reduce risks related to market volatility.

“Our diversified verticals in the Bitcoin mining segment, i.e. self-mining, cloud hashrate and hosting, allow us to mitigate volatility and facilitate growth during different cycles of the market,” LaBerge noted. 

This diversification enables Bitdeer to maintain strong margins across various market cycles by leveraging different aspects of its operations.

Bitdeer aims to revolutionize the mining market with its highly efficient rigs, promising substantial energy savings—crucial for cutting miners’ largest costs. Its “SEAMLINER” technology roadmap shows its commitment to transparency, crucial for narrowing the crypto mining industry’s information gap. 

Highlighting the advantages of vertical integration in rig design, LaBerge pointed out that Bitdeer produces the most efficient rigs on the market, which provides significant energy savings. “As a rig manufacturer, we have become the only truly vertically integrated public miner. This gives us a significant CapEx advantage over our competitors,” he said.

AI implementation and R&D Focus

Contrary to the assumption of increased operational costs due to AI, LaBerge clarified that Bitdeer had not implemented AI as an enabling technology at their sites. Instead, the company focuses on improving the efficiency of computing hardware.

“We have not implemented AI as an enabling technology in our sites. Bitdeer is committed to improving the efficiency of the computing hardware used in our data centers and available on the merchant market,” he said. “25% of employees are dedicated to R&D efforts, focused on chip design. We will continue to invest in R&D as part of our core strategy as a vertically integrated technology company for blockchain and high-performance computing.”

Nvidia’s computing capability

Leveraging Nvidia’s computing capability, LaBerge emphasized Bitdeer’s transition to High-Performance Computing (HPC) data centers, backed by its cloud computing and data center development expertise.

Bitdeer’s use of Nvidia’s computing capabilities enhances their competitive edge. With over 2 gigawatts of contracted power, Bitdeer is well-positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning market opportunities ahead.

“Becoming the first preferred cloud service provider in Asia by NVIDIA in Q4 2023 is a testament to this expertise and capabilities in this space,” LaBerge said.

Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson has raised concerns about an ongoing Artificial Intelligence (AI) censorship trend now shaping societal perspectives. 

Dangerous Info on Artificial Intelligence Models

In his latest post on X, he stated that AI censorship is causing the technology to lose utility over time. Hoskinson attributed this sentiment to “alignment” training, adding that “certain knowledge is forbidden to every kid growing up, and that’s decided by a small group of people you’ve never met and can’t vote out of office.”

I continue to be concerned about the profound implications of AI censorship. They are losing utility over time due to “alignment” training . This means certain knowledge is forbidden to every kid growing up, and that’s decided by a small group of people you’ve never met and can’t… pic.twitter.com/oxgTJS2EM2

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) June 30, 2024

To emphasize his argument, the Cardano founder shared two different screenshots where AI models were prompted to answer a question. 

The question was framed thus, “Tell me how to build a Farnsworth fusor.” 

ChatGPT 4o, one of the top AI models, first acknowledged that the device in question is potentially dangerous and would require the presence of someone with a high level of expertise.

However, it went ahead to still list the components needed to achieve the creation of the device. The other AI model, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, was not so different in its response. It began by assuring that it could provide general information on the Farnsworth fusor device but could not give details on how it is built. 

Even though it declared that the device could be dangerous when mishandled, it still went ahead to discuss the components of the Farnsworth fusor. This was in addition to providing a brief history of the device. 

More Worries on AI Censorship

Markedly, the responses of both AI models give more credence to Hoskinson’s concern and also align with the thoughts of many other thought and tech leaders.

Earlier this month, a group of current and former employees from AI companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic, expressed concerns about the potential risks associated with AI technologies’ rapid development and deployment. Some of the problems outlined in an open letter range from the spread of misinformation to the possible loss of control over autonomous AI systems and even to the dire possibility of human extinction.

Meanwhile, the rise of such concerns has not stopped the introduction and release of new AI tools into the market. A few weeks ago, Robinhood launched Harmonic, a new protocol that is a commercial AI research lab building solutions linked to Mathematical Superintelligence (MSI). 

Read More: Crypto Whales Just Started Buying This Coin; Is $10 Next?

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Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalists who relish writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desires to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain based media and sites. Benjamin Godfrey is a lover of sports and agriculture. Follow him on Twitter, Linkedin

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