The development of modern artificial intelligence models relies on a large amount of training data. However, the sources of this training data are often opaque, and many data contributors (such as writers, researchers, and domain experts) often do not receive due compensation. As public concern about AI compliance, privacy, and copyright increases, the situation of “data being used without compensation” has sparked widespread discussion. In this context, how to ensure that data contributors are fairly compensated and how to make the training process of AI models more transparent has become a pressing issue for both the AI community and the Web3 community.
OpenLedger’s vision is to create a decentralized AI data ecosystem that allows data contributors and model developers to interact and collaborate on the same platform. The project does not focus on general large models (such as large language models) but instead focuses on Specialized Language Models (SLM). By building datanets, OpenLedger encourages the community to jointly maintain datasets in vertical fields, allowing domain experts to upload high-quality data and utilizing Blockchain technology to record who contributed what.
In November 2025, OpenLedger officially launched the OPEN Mainnet. The core of the Mainnet is to allow users to upload data to shared datanets, where developers can use this data to train models, while the system tracks the usage of the data through on-chain mechanisms and automatically allocates rewards (in OPEN tokens) to contributors. This Payable AI model essentially transforms the data and contributions for AI training into a measurable and payable value.
The “Proof of Attribution” system of OpenLedger is at its technological core. It can record the ownership and usage trajectory of each dataset, each model, and each agent (AI agent) on the Blockchain. When an AI model generates logs or produces output, this system can trace back which data was used in the generation process, thereby correctly determining which data contributors should be rewarded. These rewards are automatically executed through smart contracts using OPEN tokens. Contributors no longer need to file manual appeals or perform manual calculations; their rights are automatically realized on-chain. In addition, the OpenLedger Mainnet is an EVM-compatible network that has an onchain registry for data and models, allowing developers to build applications using familiar smart contract frameworks.
For creators, domain experts, or researchers, OpenLedger provides an unprecedented revenue model:
At the same time, developers can also reduce infrastructure costs and build smart agents on this network without having to build a complete data management system themselves.
Despite the attractive vision of OpenLedger, it still faces some challenges:
The OPEN Mainnet launched by OpenLedger represents a new direction for the deep integration of Web3 and AI. It has the potential to become the data infrastructure for the AI training field, allowing contributors to realize value monetization and enabling model developers to access resources more fairly. In the future, if datanets can cover more vertical fields (such as healthcare, finance, scientific research, etc.), OpenLedger’s ecosystem may expand rapidly. As more AI products connect to this network, this “payable AI” model could become the industry standard.
In addition, against the backdrop of tightening global regulations, OpenLedger’s on-chain attribution and automatic payment mechanism may also provide a technological path for AI compliance.
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