Aptos Labs, a layer-1 blockchain started by former Facebook employees to bring the company’s scrapped Diem project (formerly Libra) to life, is expanding its tools and services using Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) tech. After the announcement was made, the Aptos token (APT) surged about 15% to $7.70.
Artificial Intelligence and blockchain technologies are quickly converging for one important reason: they are both generational breakthroughs that profoundly impact the evolution of the internet and shape society, said Mo Shaikh, CEO of Aptos Labs.
Aptos is leveraging Microsoft’s infrastructure to deploy new offerings that combine AI and blockchain, including a new chatbot called Aptos Assistant. This chatbot is powered by Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and will answer user questions about the Aptos ecosystem and provide helpful resources to developers building smart contracts and decentralized apps. Aptos is also integrating Move, its native programming language, onto Github’s Copilot service, an AI programming tool, to support contract development, unit testing, formatting, and prover specifications.
Rashmi Misra, general manager of AI and emerging technologies at Microsoft, said, By fusing Aptos Labs’ technology with the Microsoft Azure Open AI Service capabilities, we aim to democratize the use of blockchain enabling users to seamlessly onboard to Web3 and innovators to develop new exciting decentralized applications using AI.
The two companies have also agreed to explore blockchain-based financial service solutions, including asset tokenization, payment options, and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to expand the use cases of blockchain. Aptos will run validator nodes on Microsoft Azure to enhance the security of its network.
A representative for Aptos told journalists that Microsoft and Aptos Labs are working closely to bring these tools to life. Blockchains across the spectrum have rushed to adopt AI technology in recent months following the breakout success of tools like ChatGPT. Venture capitalists have directed some of the attention previously centered around crypto startups to AI, making the integration of AI key to fundraising and courting tech talent.
The Aptos blockchain has about $53 million in total value locked, according to DeFi Llama data, significantly lower than Solana but higher than competitor Sui.