0G Labs Founder Loves Goat, Turbo, and Aether… But Not TAO: Hall of Flames

While many crypto traders are hedging their bets that AI crypto tokens could rise in the next bull run, Michael Heinrich, founder and CEO of 0G Labs, believes that the most promising ones are not yet in the market.

“I think most decentralized AI tokens are still listed,” Heinrich told Hall of Flame.

However, he is “bullish” on three unique AI crypto tokens that are floating on major crypto exchanges.

“Some of the public figures I follow are Goat, Turbo and Aether,” he explained.

“Goat and Turbo are experiments in AI memes, which are fun to watch in action.”

Ethereum (ATH), meanwhile, has been compared to Airbnb for GPU computing, and Heinrich is “hoping they can open it completely without a license.” [access] Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN).

But he is “not that interested” in Bittensor (TAO), the second largest AI crypto token by market capitalization.

While Heinrich believes the token could be good, he says the project won't settle for “real AI onchain.”

Rather than truly solving the problem of making AI accessible to everyone, he explains, it's a “coordinating mechanism” that allows people to collaborate and share AI models.

Heinrich is a native of East Berlin who grew up in San Francisco. He first bought Bitcoin in 2013 and in 2017 he was already mining Bitcoin during the “first major bull market”.

In the year In 2023, he co-founded the infrastructure company 0G Labs – which is developing a modular AI blockchain – with fellow serial entrepreneur Fan Long and former Stanford University classmate Thomas Yao.

“I was just drawn to AI very quickly, and when the opportunity came to combine these two new technologies, I jumped at the chance,” he says.

“I had no idea how Web3 and AI would integrate. It was clear to me that there were clear synergies between the two technologies and that combining them had the potential to elevate both industries.

How did Michael Heinrich build his following?

Heinrich's insight into the intersection of crypto and AI has helped him gain over 250,000 followers. He says the secret to building a large following is just being true to yourself and not being afraid to challenge your core audience every now and then.

“Be faithful. Be yourself. Be controversial,” says Heinrich.

He also thinks you shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes, which is music to the ears of super bullish crypto traders making six-figure Bitcoin price predictions every day.

“If you make a mistake every now and then, be safe,” added Heinrich.

And for tech executives who pay PR agencies to manage their social media, Heinrich thinks that's pretty lame.

“People want to read other people's opinions: raw, unfiltered and from the soul. If you can't do that, X is probably not the platform for you.”

What kind of content does Michael Heinrich create?

Most of the content is on AI and Web3. It constantly shines a light on the ethics of AI because half the world is stealing their work.

“I'm working on building a movement for AI as a public good and serving human needs,” he said.

Heinrich enjoys stories of human interest that make us “feel something” and share them with his followers.

“If it has a great narrative and an unlikely protagonist, whether the protagonist is a tech founder or an AI agent, I really like it,” he added.

Goat was inspired by a story like this, about venture capitalist Marc Andreessen donating $50,000 to an AI bot.

“If you're not the wiser, you're missing out on some of the fun things the internet can entertain you with and an amazing insight into the future shape of technology.

Predictions by Michael Heinrich

Heinrich has three predictions for the next 12 months and admits he “might be wrong on one”, but is confident two will hit the mark.

“I'm not wrong about all three,” he laughs.

Heinrich's first prediction is that data centers will “start losing market share” to DPs.

His second bet is that AI will become the “biggest” decentralized finance (DeFi) with Total Value Locked (TVL).

The third prediction is that “there will be more breakthroughs in decentralized training and AI alignment research.”

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Ciaran Lyon

Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He is also a freelance comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.