Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for a strategic pivot in how blockchain technology interfaces with AI or artificial intelligence, warning against the “unchecked speed” of current AGI development.

In a post on X from yesterday, Buterin argued that Ethereum should serve as critical infrastructure to guide AI development toward verifiable and decentralized outcomes rather than simply accelerating model power.

Two years ago, I wrote this post on the possible areas that I see for ethereum + AI intersections: https://t.co/ds9mLnrJWm

This is a topic that many people are excited about, but where I always worry that we think about the two from completely separate philosophical… pic.twitter.com/pQq5kazT61

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 9, 2026

Vitalik Buterin’s Vision for Decentralized AI

This commentary revisits concepts Vitalik first explored in early 2024, responding to the industry’s increasing focus on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). While many competitors focus on raw computational speed, Buterin emphasizes safety, human agency, and decentralization. He argues that the race to build more powerful systems risks missing the necessity of distributed control.

This aligns with his broader philosophy for the network’s maturity. Previously, Vitalik Buterin has stated that no more copy-paste EVM projects are needed, urging developers to focus on unique value propositions like AI integration. The discussion arrives as the Ethereum Foundation continues to harden the network’s security, recently partnering with security firms to combat wallet drainers, a necessary foundation for handling the high-stakes automated economies AI agents are expected to manage.

And not only is Vitalik feeling the AI x Ethereum excitement. After the ERC-8004 launched on the Ethereum mainnet, a lot of crypto Twitter accounts felt the hype.

Ethereum is for AI.

ERC-8004, a new standard by the @ethereumfndn dAI Team, @MetaMask, @Google, @Coinbase, and others, provides a blueprint for how AI agents find and review each other, request and pay for jobs, and verify the work done.

What builders need to know.

— Ethereum (@ethereum) February 4, 2026

Infrastructure for Coordination and Verification

Buterin envisions a near-term future where Ethereum acts as the economic layer for AI agents. He proposes tools enabling users to interact with models privately, moving away from centralized black boxes. Key to this vision is the ability for AI agents to “coordinate economically,” allowing bots to pay other bots, post security deposits, and resolve disputes on-chain without a central intermediary.

Buterin highlights specific intersections for synergy: using AI as an interface for Web3, and utilizing cryptography to verify model behavior. He also addressed the risks of open AI models, noting they can invite machine learning attacks. To mitigate this, he advocates for local execution of models paired with cryptographic proofs.

“To me, Ethereum, and my own view of how our civilization should do AGI, are precisely about choosing a positive direction rather than embracing undifferentiated acceleration of the arrow,” Buterin wrote.

Strategic Shifts in the Crypto-AI Narrative

This framework positions Ethereum not just as a financial ledger, but as a governance layer for autonomous intelligence capable of checking Big Tech’s dominance. As Buterin has noted regarding the Layer 2 scaling narrative, the network’s evolution depends on solving real-world utility problems effectively. By prioritizing cryptographic verification over raw throughput, Ethereum is positioning itself to capture value from the creation of safe, decentralized AI economies.

Other industry observers have noted that this approach contrasts with networks focusing solely on speed. Recent coverage on Binance Square highlights how Buterin’s model attempts to solve the “black box” problem of current AI governance through transparent on-chain mechanisms.