Bitcoin News Today: ZetaChain and Google Cloud Launch AI-Powered Universal App Buildathon to Drive Web3 Innovation

ZetaChain and Google Cloud have launched a global buildathon, the AI-Powered Universal App Buildathon, aimed at fostering AI-driven innovation in the Web3 space. Running from August 2nd to August 24th, the event invites developers to create next-generation applications that integrate Google’s Gemini 2.5 series models on ZetaChain, the only Layer 1 blockchain with native connectivity to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others. The initiative is organized in partnership with DoraHacks and offers a $9,000 prize pool along with $1,000 in Google Cloud credits for participants. Winning teams will receive visibility, mentorship, and long-term support through the ZetaChain ecosystem [1].

The collaboration between ZetaChain and Google Cloud is part of a broader partnership that includes Google Cloud’s recent validator onboarding and a joint AI-powered crypto startup pitch competition held at Google’s San Francisco office earlier this year. The buildathon leverages Gemini 2.5’s advanced capabilities in function calling and code understanding, enabling developers to create autonomous Web3 agents capable of transacting, executing logic, or retrieving blockchain data based on user intent or contextual input [1].

ZetaChain’s Universal Apps allow developers to build a single smart contract that can interact with multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, without the need to manage separate deployments. This feature, combined with Gemini 2.5’s natural language processing and reasoning capabilities, empowers developers to create AI agents that can trigger smart contract actions from a unified application [1].

For instance, users could develop a multichain AI wallet assistant that interprets voice or chat input via Gemini and initiates smart transactions across chains on behalf of the user. ZetaChain’s fully interoperable design eliminates the need for users to switch wallets or blockchains [1]. As noted by Denis Fadeev, Developer Relations Lead at ZetaChain, Gemini agents can interpret complex user requests—such as converting native BTC to earn yield in ETH—and ZetaChain provides the native on-chain access to make these requests actionable [1].

The buildathon encourages innovation at the intersection of AI, crypto, and chain abstraction, with proposed use cases including autonomous cross-chain agents, intent-based wallets, AI dashboards for multichain data, smart auto-responders for wallets and dApps, and tokenized AI outputs that execute decisions based on blockchain events [1]. Developers can access a ZetaChain testnet faucet on Google Cloud to acquire testnet tokens and deploy their ideas. Additional resources, including ZetaChain’s developer documentation, are available for those looking to participate.

The event also includes a Buildathon Kickoff Workshop, where developers can learn more and begin building. ZetaChain, rooted in Silicon Valley, is actively engaged in the local blockchain and AI community through meetups, events, and academic collaborations [1]. As the first Universal Blockchain with native access to major chains, ZetaChain aims to unify liquidity and simplify the user experience for the next wave of blockchain adoption [1].

Google Cloud, as a provider of AI, infrastructure, and developer tools, supports this initiative with its AI stack, planet-scale infrastructure, and custom-built chips. The collaboration reflects Google Cloud’s commitment to enabling innovation and empowering organizations with cutting-edge technology [1].

Users are encouraged to follow ZetaChain on social media and join discussions on Discord and Telegram. Developers interested in building on ZetaChain can contact partnerships@zetachain.com for further information [1].

Source: [1] ZetaChain X Google Cloud Announce AI-Powered Universal App Buildathon (4 Aug) (https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/6890e4a90123344c94ed51e5/)