- The Ethereum Foundation launched a new AI team led by Davide Crapis that will support the growing demand for artificial intelligence applications within its blockchain ecosystem.
- The initiative centres around proposal ERC-8004, which creates a trustless system for discovering and interacting with AI agents.
The Ethereum Foundation has created a specialized AI team to meet the increasing demand for AI applications in its ecosystem. The plan is an action-based on strategic reaction to the community’s needs, not a roadmap to expansion.
Davide Crapis is the new head of the team. The foundation recognizes the importance of supporting Ethereum’s competitiveness in the blockchain market through AI development.
The AI team functions in two main foundation areas: protocol development and ecosystem support. This bilateral framework allows extensive mapping of technical infrastructure and developer onboarding programs.
The traditional AI developers are one of the targeted audiences when the foundation engages in outreach. Crapis also points out the possible application of blockchain technology to tackle some of the basic AI problems, such as the issues of alignment, verification, and governance.
The foundation seeks to show tangible value propositions to known AI developers. The main part of this value proposition is the advantages of decentralization and the ability to solve problems.
We’re starting a new AI Team at the Ethereum Foundation (the dAI Team).
Our mission: make Ethereum the preferred settlement and coordination layer for AIs and the machine economy.The team will focus on two main areas:
– AI Economy on Ethereum = giving AI agents and robots ways… pic.twitter.com/9sWVS4dp0K— Davide Crapis (@DavideCrapis) September 15, 2025
Current AI Applications and Development Focus
Several AI products are active in the Ethereum ecosystem. Micropayment systems utilizing stablecoins provide immediate utility for AI services. On-chain identity and verification solutions provide more infrastructure support.
The foundation’s dAI team focuses on offering clarity and support to these new applications. A descriptive roadmap with particular milestones will be issued later in the year.
The first team comprises Crapis, an AI product manager, and a researcher staff member. This is the core team that works directly with protocol teams with the purpose of technical alignment.
The short-term development strategy is based on the Ethereum proposal ERC-8004. The proposal presents a trustless system of finding, recruiting, and communicating with AI agents on the blockchain.
Crapis led the proposal with the co-authors of MetaMask AI head Marco De Rossi and OpenAI Jordan Ellis. The initiative was very popular within the community during its initial development stages.
The foundation is that ERC-8004 is capable of delivering immediate impact for AI applications. The proposal addresses the basic infrastructure requirements of the deployment and management of AI agents.
Industry Context and Competitive Landscape
The AI project of the Ethereum Foundation is part of a larger trend in the industry to integrate blockchains and AI. Multiple protocols have launched similar initiatives throughout 2024.
Planck infrastructure protocol added a layer-0 blockchain geared towards AI usage in July. The platform is aimed at supporting basic infrastructure requirements for AI development.
In February, Kite AI released an AI-centric layer-1 blockchain on the Avalanche ecosystem. Such changes demonstrate that AI-blockchain convergence can be viewed as an opportunity in the industry.
In 2023, crypto AI agents started to emerge on the blockchain networks. These self-driven systems can carry out financial operations and perform other tasks with minimal human supervision.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at around $4,487.96, down 0.51% in the last 24 hours.
