The Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative has launched a full-time team led by Davide Crapis to connect blockchain with artificial intelligence. Who is involved, what they will build, when it’s happening, where it will land, why it matters, and how the work will proceed are now clearer. The team hires are underway, ERC-8004 is the immediate technical target, and the work will be presented at Devconnect Buenos Aires 2025. The Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative sets out to prevent AI monopolies and to make interoperable AI agents work across the Ethereum ecosystem.
Team and goals
The new dAI group is focused on practical engineering and standards. Davide Crapis leads the team and the Foundation is hiring two full-time members. The Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative prioritizes ERC-8004, a proposal for interoperable AI agents on-chain. This move ties AI agent design to Ethereum’s developer base and existing growth themes, including staking and ETF flows seen elsewhere Ethereum price cycle: staking, etf inflows and institutional demand.
Standards
ERC-8004 aims to define interfaces, metadata, and messaging for AI agents. By standardizing agent behavior, the Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative seeks interoperability and composability across implementations. That standard will be finalized and discussed publicly at Devconnect Buenos Aires 2025 to invite broad developer review.
Partnerships
The Foundation is partnering with Silicon Valley firms and major AI companies. These Silicon Valley partnerships are meant to combine research, compute, and tooling with Ethereum’s smart contract layer. The approach echoes institutional infrastructure trends and tokenization efforts in the broader market BlackRock’s BUIDL program pushes etfs tokenization on-chain.
Why it matters
A decentralized AI stack on Ethereum could lower barriers for builders and limit single-vendor control. The Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative targets open standards so developers can HODL choice, not lock in. Interoperable AI agents would enable new DeFi-like composability across applications and services.
Roadmap
Immediate tasks: hiring, specification work, and community engagement. Short-term milestone: ERC-8004 presented at Devconnect Buenos Aires 2025. Medium-term work: tooling, research collaborations, and cross-chain interoperability. The Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative plans public drafts, workshops, and calls for feedback.
Frequently asked questions about Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative (FAQ)
Q1: what is the Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative?
It is a Foundation-led program that builds a decentralized AI stack and standards for AI agents on Ethereum.
Q2: when will ERC-8004 be presented?
The ERC-8004 proposal will be finalized and presented at Devconnect Buenos Aires 2025.
Q3: how can developers get involved?
Follow Foundation channels, review drafts, and join working groups to contribute to the Ethereum Foundation dAI initiative.
Sources to this article
(No first-party sources were cited directly in this summary.)
