NEAR AI and Coinbase join forces to make AI free and accessible for billions

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NEAR AI and Coinbase Onramp & Agent Kit launched the Open Agent Alliance (OAA), an initiative combining infrastructure to provide free AI services to over 5.5 billion web users globally.

Introducing the Open Agents Alliance: a shared commitment to make the future of AI agents and assistants open, user-owned, and globally available to all while fairly rewarding contributors.

The member teams will work together on a single User-Owned tech stack: hardware,…

— NEAR AI (@near_ai) February 28, 2025

The alliance aims to deliver secure, open-source AI access by integrating payment systems, hosting infrastructure, and AI technology while prioritizing user privacy and economic inclusivity.

“As the global web continues to shift toward mobile users, we believe AI must be accessible to everyone,” said Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR AI. “In partnership with leaders in hosting, privacy, and payments, we’re building a globally distributed network that can provide AI services securely, confidentially, and at no cost to end users.”

The OAA framework includes end-to-end payment solutions with Coinbase providing fiat-to-crypto pathways, while NEAR AI enables USDC conversions between Base and NEAR platforms.

The infrastructure component features NEAR AI’s developer environment, Phala’s confidentiality integration, and high-performance GPU processing from Hyperbolic, Aethir, and Akash.

“With Coinbase Onramp evolving as a foundational component for AI transactions and AgentKit empowering any agent with a wallet, we look forward to contributing to a more accessible and collaborative AI future,” said Dan Kim, VP of BD at Coinbase Onramp & Agentkit.

The alliance includes several other partners such as Eliza Labs, Bitte Protocol, Arc, HOT, MotherDAO, Exabits, SWEAT Economy, and Fetch, working together to replace traditional paid AI services with a user-first approach.

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