The Ethereum Foundation (EF) creates dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) Group to make Ethereum the regulation and coordination layer for what it calls “the economy of the machine”, according to researcher Davide Crapis.
Crapis, who announced the initiative on Monday on X, said that the new DAI team will pursue two priorities: allow AI agents to pay and coordinate without intermediaries, and build a decentralized AI stack which avoids dependence on a small number of large companies. He said that neutrality, verifiability and resistance to Ethereum censorship made it a natural basic layer for intelligent systems.
Context of the Ethereum Foundation
The EF is a non -profit organization based in Zug, in Switzerland, which finances and coordinates the development of Ethereum blockchain. He does not control the network but plays a catalytic role by supporting researchers, developers and ecosystem projects.
Its upgrade includes upgrading of financing such as Ethereum 2.0, evidence of zero knowledge and a layer of layer 2, alongside community programs such as the program to support the ecosystem. The Foundation also organizes events such as Devcon to promote collaboration and acts as a defender of policies for the adoption of blockchain.
In 2025, EF restructured to manage Ethereum’s growth, emphasizing the acceleration of the ecosystem, the support of the founders and the awareness of companies. The new DAI team represents a continuation of this change to units specializing in emerging technologies.
The role of crapis
CRAPIS is an EF researcher and will run the new DAI team. He said that the group would connect its work both with the EF protocol group and its ecosystem support arm.
“Ethereum makes AI more reliable, and AI makes Ethereum more useful,” he wrote, adding that the team intended to finance public goods and projects at the intersection of AI and blockchains.
ERC-8004 and trusted standards
The group will rely on recent work around the ERC-8004, an Ethereum proposed standard that CRAPIS has described as a way to prove who is an AI agent and to know if we can trust them. By offering identity and reputation systems for autonomous agents, the standard is intended to allow coordination without centralized guardians.
Crapis said the team would support new standards and upgrades as they emerge, guided by Ethereum values and “D / ACC” philosophy of decentralized acceleration. The objective, he explained, is to ensure that the development of AI remains open and verifiable while giving humans a greater agency on how intelligent systems interact with the economy.
Why it matters
For Ethereum, the movement signals an increasing ambition to anchor emerging technologies beyond finance.
If AI agents are starting to transform on a large scale, demand could grow for colony rails, reputation systems and standards that natively operate on Ethereum. For the AI community, the initiative offers an alternative to centralized platforms that currently dominate AI infrastructure.
“The more the agents are intelligent, the more they need a neutral basic layer for value and reputation,” said Crapis. “Ethereum takes advantage by becoming this layer and AI advantages by escaping a few centralized platforms.”
The team began to hire and publish resources, according to CRAPIS. He said that EF intended to work “with the aim and emergency” to connect the developers of the AI to the Ethereum ecosystem and accelerate research on both fields.
