The last time I saw the joint research report by Brickroad and Irys, I realized an issue:

The speed of AI development will be very fast in the future, but the key to AI is not "whose model is bigger," but who ties together the ownership, verifiability, and programmability of data.

Irys, as the first programmable Datachain, seems to be trying to overturn this situation, transforming data from a passive asset into an active "living" tool, truly returning it to creators, developers, and society!

So since the last post, I have thoroughly explored Irys @irys_xyz, and now I feel that this immense power has directly impacted my new understanding:

The completeness of Irys in this area is higher than I imagined. Let's break it down together 👇 (Feel free to challenge me)

1) A hook:

"Data is the new oil" has been shouted for ten years, but the real money is still made by the five giants.

So how can ordinary people/small teams get a share? —

Let data write its own rules and collect payments; Irys has provided a feasible prototype.

2) What exactly is Irys?

In my view, Irys represents a revolutionary shift of data in the AI era from "static storage" to "programmable data";

Most so-called "data chains" are essentially just expensive cloud hard drives.

The differences of Irys lie in the following three points:

1) Native EVM (IrysVM), contracts can directly read and write data;

2) Cost anchored to hard drives, not to tokens;

3) Multi-ledger layering, flexible timeframes allowing data to transform from "static files" to "dynamic assets" for the first time.

3) The three points I understand represent three layers of value:

1) Verifiable storage: Data uploaded can be trusted by others;

2) Natively callable: Contracts can call directly without external transport;

3) Programmable economics: Access triggers profit sharing? Subscriptions? Auctions? All written into the data structure;

Data = Smart Contract × Resource Package: Irys treats data as a "first-class citizen," allowing developers to embed logical instructions directly into the data, enabling it to execute tasks, automate processes, and even interact with AI agents like a smart contract.

4) The technical detail that impressed me the most is its "multi-ledger architecture":

Imagine this: You upload a dataset, and it can automatically trigger AI model analysis, verify sources, pay based on usage, or embed copyright mechanisms to ensure creators profit automatically.

Submit (verification state) → Publish (permanent state) → More time-limited ledgers. This effectively breaks down your costs, time, and availability into toggle switches: want to save money, choose 3 months; want peace of mind, buy permanent.

Storage is not one-size-fits-all; costs/time/availability are managed separately, which is true engineering thinking.

5) Now looking at competitors:

The essential difference of Irys lies in "programmability" — it is not just a storage layer but makes data "intelligent," supporting AI models to collaborate on-chain.

Through IrysVM (a native execution layer compatible with EVM), data can be retrieved instantly, shared across applications, and supports permanent or temporary storage —

Costs are much lower than Web2 cloud storage (like AWS) and Web3 competitors (like Filecoin), with stable pricing and no volatility.

Filecoin: Must renew within 540 days, contracts do not show the data itself;

Arweave: Permanent, but data remains static and cannot be directly rewritten by the logic layer;

Story: Writes "authorization relationships," large files often remain off-chain. Irys: The file itself + logic are both on-chain.

Irys: The file itself + execution logic are on-chain, allowing data to "carry its own CPU."

6) What does Irys mean from an AI perspective?

AI models can complete data storage, verification, and monetization within the same network, even achieving seamless collaboration of "data + computation" through programmable logic, automating workflows like data auditing and real-time model adaptation.

Switching to the AI perspective, AI is consuming the world, but the underlying infrastructure is lagging. Model training requires massive amounts of data but faces issues of opaque sources and ambiguous ownership.

Irys is specifically designed for AI applications, providing a complete on-chain infrastructure: a one-stop solution for storage, verification, and monetization.

Models can:

1) Directly grab training sets from the chain (verifiable sources);

2) Clearly state in contracts "who used my data and how much they should pay";

3) Even models can automatically collaborate and settle on-chain;

4) A true "free market for machines and data" may finally emerge.

In summary: verifiable training sets, billable access, and on-chain collaboration and settlement between models —

If it truly works, AI will see a "free market for data × computing power," rather than being monopolized by cloud vendors and private domains.

7) Programmable Data ≠ Stuffing files into contracts

There’s a concept I really like: Programmable Data.

It’s not about "throwing data into a contract," but rather that the data itself carries executable rules.

Similar to the embedded "royalty logic" in NFTs, but this time the subjects are various datasets/model parameters/multimedia assets. In Irys, it could be "read once → automatic profit sharing," "cited → automatic authorization"… the possibilities are endless.

8) Verifiable data ≠ Complete recalculation

Their verification technology (Matrix Packing, sampling verification) made me realize:

Verifiable data ≠ Complete recalculation;

You only need to prove "this data really exists and hasn't been tampered with," rather than transmitting the entire dataset every time. This is a more realistic path.

9) Now I find myself thinking about another question:

When data possesses contract-level "self-protection" and "automatic charging" capabilities, how much premium will traditional Web2 platforms still have?

How much will the bargaining power of intermediaries be compressed?

I also pose a practical question:

Will developers really write complex authorization/profit-sharing logic on-chain, rather than continuing to use a centralized backend?

This depends on: ease of use of the tools, costs, and whether there are compelling reasons to "go on-chain" (like royalties, credit, composability).

The endgame may be: platforms being reduced to UI, with value returning to resource providers and logic creators.

10) From a speculative perspective:

Irys is still in pre-mainnet, pre-TGE.

If it delivers on the narrative of a "data financial layer," then the current stage is the most typical "technology is formed but value is undetermined."

Conclusion —

Which metaphor is more accurate: "AWS of the data layer" vs "Ethereum of the data layer"?

Can Irys become the "underlying protocol for IP protocols"?

When data can collect payments on its own, will the advertising model be replaced?

These questions are all worth our consideration. When I think of these, I feel very excited, so I want to say:

The battle for computing power is just the prelude; the sovereignty and economics of data are the main event.

Irys may not be the endgame, but it has pushed the concept of "programmable data" forward significantly!

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