Web3 AI agents offer ownership and trust beyond big tech

Web3 AI agents offer ownership and trust beyond big tech originally appeared on TheStreet.

Artificial intelligence is colliding with blockchain, but the approaches of Big Tech and Web3 could not be more different. Natalia Ameline, decentralization coordinator at Metis and advisor at LazAI, says large corporations like Google, Amazon, and Apple will only integrate blockchain into their AI services if it boosts revenues and share prices.

“Large companies will do whatever is in their interest to gain more market share and make more money,” Ameline said. “They are all accountable to their shareholders. They need to drive their share prices, which means they need to grow their revenues, they need to grow their profits. So from my perspective, they will do whatever if there is an opportunity there.”

A new model for AI in web3

That leaves room for Web3 platforms to define a different model. Unlike traditional AI systems that remain under corporate control, decentralized AI agents are owned outright by users through private keys. They cannot be shut down, seized, or altered by a third party.

“When we look at AI agents in the Web3, they are deployed on a decentralized platform, which means that we are getting the benefits of decentralization, such as it cannot be arbitrarily shut down,” Ameline explained. “You can truly own your agent. It cannot be taken away from you.”

Another advantage is transparency. Every action taken by a blockchain-based AI agent leaves a verifiable audit trail. “It stops being a bit of a black box,” Natalia said. “Here you can really see the process of training on chain, you can see all the reasoning.”

The shift also highlights a broader market trend. As crypto adoption moves from taboo to mainstream—with companies and even governments adding digital assets to their balance sheets—Web3 platforms that combine AI and blockchain may be well positioned to capture both developer attention and investor capital. The ability to deliver trustless, always-on intelligence could transform not just DeFi, but enterprise applications from supply chain to digital identity.

Web3 AI agents offer ownership and trust beyond big tech first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 20, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 20, 2025, where it first appeared.

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