Tether Expands AI Capabilities, Launches Open-Source SDK

Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. On Feb. 4, Paolo Ardoino, the company's CEO, revealed that the firm is working on several AI-driven applications while preparing to launch an open-source software development kit (SDK) platform. These applications include AI translate, AI voice assistant, and AI bitcoin wallet assistant, designed to function directly on user devices, ensuring data privacy and self-custody of digital assets.

The SDK platform will be compatible with multiple devices, from embedded hardware and mobile phones to high-performance computing systems. It will be built on Bare, the JavaScript runtime from Holepunch, and will support open-source development. This initiative follows Tether's announcement in early 2024 about its expansion into AI, outlining its vision for open-source, multimodal AI models for real-world use cases. The latest developments show Tether's intention to engage with the broader AI and crypto ecosystems.

Tether has launched a global hiring drive that is actively seeking AI professionals to support these efforts. It has also announced job openings for AI filmmakers. Meanwhile, the company's flagship stablecoin, USDT, continues to dominate the market. Over the past week, the company minted an additional $2 billion in tokens, bringing the total USDT supply to $140 billion. This reinforced its position as the largest stablecoin on the market despite ongoing regulatory challenges.

European compliance pressures have led to USDT's delisting from three major exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com. These platforms attributed their decisions to efforts to comply with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which is still in its early implementation phase. Tether has criticized the rapid enforcement of these measures, arguing that such actions could disrupt market stability and introduce unintended risks for consumers. The company believes regulatory clarity is necessary but warns against premature steps that could harm the broader digital asset ecosystem.

In other AI-related news, 0G Foundation, the organization overseeing the development of the 0G decentralized AI operating system, launched an $88.88 million ecosystem fund to accelerate projects creating AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and autonomous agents, also known as DeFAI agents. The fund received strategic backing from Web3 investment firms, including Hack VC, Delphi Ventures, Bankless Ventures