How real autonomous systems are assembled, evaluated, and constrained in practice, beyond demos and single-model abstractions.
Why generalization, not raw scale, determines whether modern AI systems become usable, reliable intelligence in the real world.
What must be true before autonomous agents are trusted to control real capital, from security and custody to incentives and risk.
The biggest bottleneck in AI isn’t talent, but the centralized control of compute access and cost. Discover how decentralized networks can break the grip of cloud monopolies and unlock the next wave of innovation.
We bear witness to a remarkable convergence in frontier model intelligence. In 2026, the intelligence economy will be won on environments, context, and interfaces. This talk details an agenda for unlocking economic value through increasingly general environments, frictionless context elicitation, and high-taste interfaces to the analog and digital worlds.
The AI era is here and clarity is everything. Join us for a high energy session where builders have three minutes to pitch their vision of the NEAR thesis. Following a Prequel Introduction to frame the ecosystem’s goals, participants will compete for a share of 2,000 NEAR. No slides or props are allowed. Only your words and your passion can win over the audience. Community voting determines the winners, so come prepared to convince the crowd.
Competition Rules:
– Time Limit: Strictly 3 minutes per pitch.
– Props: Notecards and phones only (no slides or physical props).
– Rewards: 1st Place (1,000 NEAR), 2nd Place (600 NEAR), 3rd Place (400 NEAR).
How production AI systems protect sensitive data, define trust boundaries, and execute without exposing what matters.
The Innovation Sandbox was more than a hackathon. It was a high-speed pressure test for the 2026 NEAR stack. Join the Sandbox program lead for a comprehensive review of the 3-week sprint where builders moved beyond prototypes to ship mainnet-ready products.
The questions enterprises ask before approving private AI systems, from security guarantees to auditability and risk.
As payments evolve beyond single chains and manual execution, consumers and AI agents need a unified way to transact across assets, applications, and intent-driven workflows. This session explores how Pingpay’s orchestration layer, powered by NEAR Intents, enables anything-to-anything payments.
Why privacy succeeds when it enables adoption, verification, and real markets.
Founders at the intersection of AI and onchain systems must navigate new product, distribution, and defensibility challenges. This session shares a practical venture framework for designing AI-native workflows, using tokens to accelerate network effects, and identifying the patterns that separate enduring products from hype.
Why autonomous AI systems require a new network layer optimized for speed, bandwidth, and real-time execution.
What it actually takes to fine-tune large language models on edge and federated hardware, and the tradeoffs teams face when deploying decentralized AI in the real world.
How compute, runtimes, orchestration, and execution layers come together to support autonomous agent systems.
Who controls capital in autonomous systems, and what security, compliance, and accountability require at scale.
How privacy-first infrastructure can turn AI, data, and digital sovereignty into an investable public good where systems cannot betray their users.
What must be in place for institutions to scale AI-driven commerce responsibly.
Learn how the Shade Agent Framework combines smart-contract-controlled key management with trusted execution environments to enable secure, verifiable agents in Web3.
As an OG Bitcoin DEX founded in 2021, THORSwap has evolved to become a meta-aggregator of leading cross-chain protocols. In this talk, Alan (THORSwap CEO) will cover advancements in cross-chain interoperability (NEAR Intents!) and how the new DeFi SuperApp ‘Metro’, designs user experiences that bridge the gap between complex protocols and everyday users.
Experience the future of verifiable learning with (L)Earn AI and discover how private AI ensures your journey is transparent, trusted, and under your control.
A technical briefing on using the SAFE-MCP security standard to implement cryptographic identity, least-privilege tool access, and non-custodial guardrails for autonomous agents.
An economic analysis of compute bottlenecks, incentive design, and the hard capital requirements for scaling open-source AI beyond mere public interest.
What biology, social systems, and AI governance teach us about building cooperation that resists exploitation at scale.
Reframing decentralized AI from a technical niche to a core business strategy for data sovereignty, cost efficiency, and long-term market autonomy.
Explore the reality of autonomous work and whether agents are ready to manage money, code, and teams without human guardrails.
Why public trust and legitimacy ultimately determine whether AI-powered commerce can scale.
Discover why flat fees break agentic micropayments and how x402 standardization paves the way for scalable autonomous commerce.
Who really shapes the future of human–machine systems once capital enters the picture.
Uncover the strategy for sustainable growth as NEAR Mobile evolves into a multi-ecosystem gateway using NPRO and Intents.
A deep dive into how NEAR Intents, StableFlow, and STP eliminate bridge risks to provide the most efficient, one-click venue for global stablecoin liquidity.
How intent-based systems coordinate execution, liquidity, and control as agents begin to act onchain.
