Yat Siu, Animoca Brands

Ownership after AI

Last week, SV Icons hosted Yat Siu, founder of Animoca Brands.

It turned out to be one of the most insightful dinners we’ve hosted so far, full of philosophical questions web3 is addressing.

Yat started the web3 version of Animoca Brands when he realized that the next generation of the web would be completely different – with the users being literate about ownership and participation. And willing to act instead of just passively consuming information.

Think about this – currently, with AI, we are getting to the point of dynamic information flow, where AI can react and feed us with whatever interests us. VR is the next step for this, so we finally do not need monitors and keyboards as we get used to having something more actionable.

This is already a reality, so we are 1-2 years away from AI assistants and actionable VR headsets/applications. And what is the step after we learn to consume what we are interested in without friction?

The next step is ownership. What can excite you to participate in the app/media or whatever you do outside of basic curiosity/work needs?

Ownership, so you have aligned incentives and skin in the game. And that’s what blockchain enables with the vision Yat is building Animoca.

At the same time, Yat is fully aware that no monopoly can happen in such a structure on public blockchains. If you can’t permission the ecosystem – you can’t monopolize it, and if you have permission – you won’t succeed because no one will build in such an ecosystem. Therefore the investing principles differ a lot, emphasizing investing in the project not because it will become the significant protocol with the winner takes all mentality but because it will trigger the growth of specific ecosystems (such as NFTs, perps, etc.) so the whole infrastructure will be valued more, what will subsequently produce the great outcome.

Immanuel Kant inspired Yat, and with all ups and downs in web3, what sets leaders apart is the mission they are going after. Not just to invest – but to educate, own and turn this vision into reality.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain offer a sense of democracy in the digital world, and that’s the version of the web we soon see with the visionary leaders such as Yat.