Guest: Ishant Singh, Strategic AI Director of Zulu Network
Interview: momo, ChainCatcher
Recently, the former Bitcoin Layer 2 project Zulu Network announced a strategic transformation, shifting its focus to the decentralized AI infrastructure sector.
Notably, this transformation at Zulu Network has welcomed a key figure—former OpenAI model security deployment expert Ishant Singh, who has taken on the role of Strategic AI Director. Ishant not only possesses practical experience from top AI institutions but has also successfully founded an AI startup.
How will this AI expert, with a background in top AI institutions and entrepreneurial experience, lead the team to successfully pivot from a Bitcoin scaling solution to an AI infrastructure provider? In the increasingly competitive AI + Crypto space, how will Zulu build a differentiated advantage? What are the key roadmaps?
Ishant Singh recently shared his thoughts and plans regarding Zulu's transformation into decentralized AI infrastructure in an interview with ChainCatcher.
Why Shift from Bitcoin Layer 2 to AI Infrastructure?
1. ChainCatcher: What are your main responsibilities at Zulu Network? What significant career experiences do you have?
Ishant Singh: I currently serve as the Strategic AI Director at Zulu Network, where my primary responsibilities include leading the integration of artificial intelligence into Zulu's decentralized infrastructure, developing the AI roadmap, guiding product and protocol development, and establishing partnerships to strengthen our AI ecosystem.
Before joining Zulu, I was a member of OpenAI's Trust and Safety team, responsible for security deployment strategies for large language models and contributing to the development of AI policy frameworks. I also co-founded a B2B AI startup focused on developing generative automation tools for enterprises, which was later successfully acquired.
My past experiences have equipped me with extensive AI product development knowledge, a deep understanding of model security, trust, and deployment, as well as the ability to translate research outcomes into developer-friendly tools.
Particularly, my experience at OpenAI has made me realize the importance of building scalable and responsible AI systems, and I will bring this rigor to Zulu. Additionally, I have a profound understanding of the pain points developers face when building with AI.
2. ChainCatcher: What is the core motivation behind Zulu Network's decision to shift from the Bitcoin Layer 2 network to the AI field? What prompted the team to make this strategic change at this time? Did you encounter challenges in the Bitcoin Layer 2 business?
Ishant Singh: Zulu initially focused on enhancing Bitcoin's scalability through Layer 2 infrastructure. However, we found that the attractiveness, composability, and programmability for developers on Bitcoin were limited compared to EVM-based ecosystems.
At the same time, AI is experiencing explosive growth across various industries, especially in the Web3 space, where trustless AI, decentralized computing, and verifiable reasoning are becoming crucial.
Currently, there is a surge in market demand for decentralized AI solutions, and the AI field has greater long-term growth potential compared to Bitcoin Layer 2. We firmly believe that blockchain and AI are moving towards integration, which will create powerful synergies.
We believe that shifting to AI will unlock broader applications and community impact.
3. ChainCatcher: How will the Bitcoin Layer 2 business be handled after the transition to AI? What impact will the indefinite suspension of the mainnet and the closure of the COBO bridge have on existing users, developers, and token holders? How will the team address potential community concerns regarding this change?
Ishant Singh: We plan to indefinitely suspend the Bitcoin Layer 2 mainnet by August 30, 2025, and close the COBO bridge by July 30, 2025.
For existing users and token holders, we will provide ample time and communication to support asset withdrawals and explore the possibility of migrating tokens to the new AI-driven ecosystem. Additionally, we will maintain transparency regarding the future use cases of the ZULU token.
We are committed to a smooth transition and will continue to listen to the community's voice. We believe this change will create greater utility and value for all stakeholders in the long run.
Three Core Focus Areas After Transitioning to AI
4. ChainCatcher: What specific plans does Zulu Network have after transitioning to AI? What market pain points or needs do you hope to address?
Ishant Singh: There are several real issues in the AI field.
First, AI is largely monopolized by a few tech giants. We aim to leverage blockchain technology to decentralize access to AI, computing power, and data ownership.
Second, AI model decision-making is opaque, resembling a "black box." We will utilize the transparency of blockchain to ensure that every decision-making process of AI can be verified, audited, and tamper-proof.
Moreover, developing AI on the blockchain is very complex and has a high barrier to entry. We hope to build plug-and-play tools that help developers quickly and securely create AI-driven decentralized applications (dApps).
In simple terms, we aim to create a trustless infrastructure for the next generation of decentralized AI applications.
5. ChainCatcher: You mentioned that Zulu will focus on three AI directions: developing blockchain-based AI models, enhancing the automation and decision-making capabilities of smart contracts through AI, and seamlessly integrating blockchain security with AI analytical capabilities. What specific progress has been made in these three areas? What exciting developments or products can we expect in the future?
Ishant Singh: We have made some progress in these three core areas.
In decentralized AI models, we are testing a lightweight inference layer that can run Transformer-based models in a decentralized manner through off-chain execution and on-chain verification.
In AI-driven smart contracts, we are developing prototypes that can adapt in real-time to data using embedded machine learning logic, enabling use cases such as automated DAO governance.
In combining blockchain security with AI analytical capabilities, we are building an analytical module that utilizes AI for on-chain anomaly detection and fraud prevention.
6. ChainCatcher: Does the shift from Bitcoin Layer 2 to AI application blockchain infrastructure impose higher technical requirements on the development team? How do you address these technical challenges?
Ishant Singh: Yes, building decentralized AI is significantly more complex than traditional Layer 2 solutions.
It requires handling GPU-based computing and model inference, ensuring data integrity and privacy, and achieving efficient off-chain computation and on-chain verification.
To address these challenges, we are expanding our team of AI and Web3 experts, and we are adopting a modular architecture to support plug-and-play AI modules while collaborating with third-party computing providers and zero-knowledge proof (zk) verification layers.
This ensures that we can advance quickly while maintaining security and scalability.
7. ChainCatcher: Zulu mentioned leveraging the liquidity of BNB Chain to enhance the platform. How do you plan to specifically integrate BNB Chain to support AI instances and decentralized application development? Why prioritize BNB Chain?
Ishant Singh: We chose BNB Chain for three main reasons.
First, BNB Chain has high throughput and low fees, making it ideal for AI-driven dApps that require frequent interactions.
Second, BNB Chain has deep liquidity, which helps launch new AI token economies and incentivize network activity.
Additionally, BNB Chain has a robust ecosystem that can help us integrate into the existing active developer community on BNB.
We plan to use BNB Chain as a settlement and coordination layer, with AI inference and model execution handled off-chain through decentralized computing, while verification, staking, and payments will occur on the BNB chain.
8. ChainCatcher: What specific plans does Zulu have to attract and incentivize developers to build AI-driven decentralized applications on the Zulu platform?
Ishant Singh: Zulu is incentivizing developers to participate in various ways. For instance, through Zulu Grants, we fund early teams to build applications that integrate AI and crypto; Zulu also hosts hackathons and global events focusing on real use cases such as AI agents, on-chain analytics, and generative dApps.
Additionally, we have on-chain incentives that allow developers to earn ZULU token rewards based on protocol usage, contribution, and innovation.
We believe AI tools should be open, composable, and developer-friendly, and we are heavily investing in this direction.
9. ChainCatcher: What role will the ZULU token play in the new AI-driven ecosystem? Will there be a new token economic design to support AI functionalities?
Ishant Singh: We will release a detailed proposal for the token economics 2.0 related to the AI roadmap in the third quarter of 2025.
In the new AI-driven ecosystem, the ZULU token will have three use cases.
First, model staking to protect and incentivize the decentralized AI network; second, data validation rewards to compensate users and curators who contribute high-quality data; third, governance, allowing token holders to decide which models or functionalities to deploy.
Committed to Building an AI-Native Blockchain Platform
10. ChainCatcher: With many infrastructure projects integrating AI and blockchain currently, what do you see as Zulu's core competitive advantage?
Ishant Singh: The development of AI + Crypto is still in its early stages, and Zulu remains one of the earlier protocols specifically designed for decentralized AI, which gives us a significant advantage in design flexibility.
The AI + Crypto space is indeed bustling, but many projects are merely "patching" AI functionalities onto blockchain. We are building an AI-native blockchain platform from the ground up based on a native AI-first tech stack.
At the same time, we focus on real use cases, with all development centered around practical application scenarios. Additionally, our core team includes veterans deeply rooted in blockchain and technical experts from top AI institutions like OpenAI, which provides us with an advantage in building decentralized AI infrastructure.
11. ChainCatcher: The AI + Crypto space is still in its early stages and has been questioned as a "pseudo-demand." How do you view this skepticism? What are the main challenges facing the AI + Crypto space currently? How will Zulu respond?
Ishant Singh: Just as DeFi and NFTs faced skepticism in their early development, it is understandable that AI + Crypto is questioned at this stage.
However, AI + Crypto can indeed address real and pressing issues, such as verifiable AI outputs, data ownership, and trustless computing.
The challenges we currently face include immature infrastructure for AI + Crypto, regulatory uncertainties, and a lack of developer tools.
Challenges also present opportunities. Zulu aims to address these challenges by building modular infrastructure and significantly lowering the development barriers for AI dApps through ecosystem incentives.
12. ChainCatcher: In the coming year, what is your prediction for the development momentum of the AI + Crypto space? What important roadmaps or milestones does Zulu have? What long-term goals do you hope to achieve with Zulu?
Ishant Singh: Zulu's focus is on laying a solid technical foundation while adapting to market and technological evolution. We are currently exploring several promising plans, from developer tools to model infrastructure, and will share more details when the time is right.
In the long run, our goal is to ensure that Zulu becomes the core infrastructure layer for decentralized AI, allowing builders, users, and the community to benefit from intelligent and trustless systems.
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