Ritual

What is Ritual

Ritual aims to bridge the gap between AI and blockchain technology by providing infrastructure that allows AI models to be accessed and utilized both on-chain (via smart contracts) and off-chain. This is being rolled out in phases. The first phase, called Infernet, is already live and functions as a decentralized oracle network (DON).

Infernet enables smart contracts on any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchain to tap into AI models for tasks like inference, making it a pioneering tool for developers who want to incorporate AI into their decentralized applications (dApps). The second phase, still in development, is the Ritual chain itself—a sovereign blockchain with a custom virtual machine (VM) designed specifically for AI-native operations. This chain will support advanced functionalities like model fine-tuning and inference directly on-chain, using specialized opcodes and precompiles.

Ritual’s vision extends to fostering a new wave of AI-driven applications in the crypto space, such as transparent decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, self-improving blockchains, autonomous agents, and generative content. For example, developers could create a generative NFT system or an AI bot that trades cryptocurrencies based on natural language instructions—all powered by Ritual’s infrastructure.