Mark Rydon, Co-Founder of Aethir — Interview Series

Aethir, an active torchbearer in the field of enterprise grade GPUs, is on the cusp of generating an even greater wealth of information about AI development and cloud technologies in the blockchain space. To learn a bit more about the company’s ongoing efforts to further enhance its portfolio, we caught up with Aethir co-founder Mark Rydon.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Mark. Before we touch base on all things Aethir, please could you introduce yourself to our readers? Who are you, and what brought you to this sector of gaming, in particular?

Mark: I’m the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Aethir, a decentralized enterprise-grade cloud computing network. My journey into this sector began with an interest in making high-performance computing resources more accessible and equitable. 

I was driven to the gaming and AI sector by understanding the synergy between blockchain technology and the growing demand for computing power in gaming and AI development. Seeing how traditional game developers often face resource constraints that limit innovation, I realized that Aethir could address these challenges by leveraging blockchain technology to redistribute idle and underutilized compute resources.

And could you tell us a bit more about Aethir? When was the company founded, and what inspired the idea to create enterprise-ready GPUs?

Mark: Recognizing the growing need for powerful computational capabilities in gaming, AI development, and large language models, Aethir was founded in 2022 with the vision of revolutionizing access to high-performance GPU resources. Traditional centralized cloud infrastructure often suffers from resource inefficiencies and high costs, which can be prohibitive for many startups and developers.

Our team, although not originally from the crypto world, consists of tech enthusiasts who were independently investing and had a solid understanding of the blockchain space. We realized that decentralized networks could be the solution to the challenges we were seeing in the tech industry. 

We believed that building a decentralized hardware network was the best way to address these issues. By using blockchain technology, we could reward contributors with tokens, creating an autonomous and efficient system. Our approach wasn't about jumping on the crypto bandwagon; it was about solving a Web2 problem with the most effective tool available.

Today, Aethir boasts the largest fleet of over 3000 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs in the Web3 industry, supported by industry giants like NVIDIA, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and China Mobile. Our decentralized cloud network is designed to make high-performance GPU resources accessible and affordable, empowering a new generation of technological advancements in AI and gaming.

You’ve recently launched two staking pools: Gaming Ecosystem, and AI Ecosystem. Could you tell us more about these, and how they work?

Mark: Our staking pools offer additional rewards alongside standard staking benefits.

The Gaming Ecosystem Staking Pool allows users to stake ATH tokens and earn rewards in the native crypto tokens of Aethir’s gaming partners. This incentivizes gamers and developers to participate in the Aethir network, benefiting from its growth and ecosystem activity. By staking in this pool, users contribute to network stability and liquidity while gaining a variety of game-related tokens.

Similarly, the AI Ecosystem Staking Pool is tailored for those interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Staking ATH tokens in this pool earns rewards from Aethir’s AI partners, offering extra tokens from AI-focused projects and supporting overall network’s functionality and resource distribution.

Both pools offer flexibility. Users can stake their ATH tokens without a lock-up period or opt to lock them up for a specified time to earn higher rewards. Rewards are distributed weekly based on the duration of the lock-up period and the amount of ATH staked compared to the total pool.  Participants receive two types of tokens: transferable stATH, which allows them to use and accumulate rewards, and non-transferable veATH, which helps track their staking awards.

Aethir offers a unique approach to staking with two different pools to choose from:

1️⃣ Gaming Ecosystem Pool
2️⃣ AI Ecosystem Pool

Both pools let you earn additional rewards from both our gaming and AI partners.

🧵👇🏻 https://t.co/71SFZW4V5M pic.twitter.com/8vEtjLp6fT

— Aethir (@AethirCloud) June 22, 2024

Let’s talk about the recent integration with MetaGravity. Tell us, what fueled this collaboration with the platform, and how exactly will it impact the world of Web3 gaming?

Mark: Our integration with MetaGravity is not only going to impact Web3 gaming but gaming as a whole, which as you know, now has a global market size approaching $350B. This collaboration was fueled by our shared vision to revolutionize online gaming through decentralized infrastructure. The founders at MetaGravity have been powering innovation in online worlds and games for decades. Aethir's expertise in decentralized cloud infrastructure (DCI) perfectly complements MetaGravity's HyperScale Engine, which dramatically increases simulation scale while reducing costs. This integration allows game developers to create vast, scalable virtual worlds with ease and affordability.

Through this integration, traditional games will benefit from enhanced multiplayer capabilities, reduced latency, and broader accessibility. Aethir’s Instaplay technology facilitates instant play across all devices, removing barriers and making high-quality gaming experiences available to a wider audience. This partnership brings unprecedented scalability and real-time persistence, enabling developers to build more immersive and interactive experiences. By leveraging decentralized resources, we ensure greater resilience, scalability, and cost-efficiency, essential for the growing demands of the 3D internet.

For Web3 gaming in particular, the opportunity to work collaboratively with our respective communities on things like early access, advantages for token holders, and other community-driven initiatives, opens up exciting possibilities. For example, the full Aethir community is now invited to join the MetaGravity HyperScale Testers playtest group. Here, gamers and the public can be the first to experience the future of hyperscale online multiplayer gaming – and see both technologies come together in real time. You can find more information at https://www.metagravity.com/playtests.

MetaGravity already has numerous games using its technology, so it's not just the MetaGravity backend itself, but the opportunity to work with all of these developers that is exciting for the team at Aethir. Overall, this collaboration accelerates the adoption of decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) in gaming, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and setting a new standard for both Web3 and traditional games.

Are we right in thinking that those who use MetaGravity to create games will have access to the assets in Aethir’s book? Could you shed some light on some of the resources that publishers will be able to use?

Mark: You're absolutely right. Game developers and studios using MetaGravity's technology will have access to Aethir extensive resources. This collaboration, which integrates MetaGravity’s innovative HyperScale engine with Aethir’s global cloud infrastructure, provides a plethora of cutting-edge tools that developers can leverage to enhance their projects.

By using Aethir, developers will have access to state-of-the-art GPUs connected by a decentralized cloud network, providing the high-performance computational power needed for massive multiplayer experiences on demand. Additionally, Aethir’s dynamic scaling capabilities mean that computational resources can adjust to a project's needs, offering both scalability and cost-efficiency throughout all stages of development.

Moreover, Aethir’s Instaplay pixel streaming solution enables instant play without downloads across any device, making games more accessible to players worldwide. Combined with MetaGravity's HyperScale engine, this allows developers to build and scale massive online worlds with enhanced graphics and real-time performance.

Together, Aethir and MetaGravity are providing game developers with the essential infrastructure to create groundbreaking, immersive gaming experiences, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the gaming industry.

MetaGravity aside, you’ve also helped to power some pretty fantastic projects, too—Magic Eden, Sequence, and IO.net, to list a few. Tell us, what’s next? Do you have your sights set on any other partnerships or projects?

Mark: We've chosen to partner with Magic Eden, Sequence, and IO.net because each of these projects represents a pivotal aspect of the evolving digital ecosystem. Magic Eden, a leading NFT marketplace, aligns with our vision to support the burgeoning Web3 space by providing robust and scalable cloud infrastructure, ensuring seamless and efficient operations. Sequence, with its innovative blockchain solutions, complements our goal of enabling high-performance decentralized applications. IO.net, known for its cutting-edge technologies, shares our commitment to pushing the boundaries of cloud computing and AI.

Moving forward, we have several exciting developments in the pipeline and are actively exploring collaborations to further expand our support for large-scale AI training and development. The success of our integration with MetaGravity exemplifies the immense possibilities in the gaming space. We are keen to collaborate with more gaming studios, pushing the boundaries of innovation and advancement in cloud gaming development.

Ultimately, we are focused on forging connections in emerging tech that align with our mission to make high-performance GPU resources accessible and affordable to all. We’re excited about the future and the role Aethir will play in shaping it.

Aethir has the power to scale up your AI applications

Whether you’re refining complex algorithms, processing vast datasets, or interfacing with end users in real-time, Aethir’s solution enables the next phase of development for AI applications.https://t.co/k8tJU7WjtR pic.twitter.com/3ApbK2xoLU

— Aethir (@AethirCloud) June 20, 2024

So, what’s the best way of staying up to date with Aethir? Are there any newsletters, events, or streams that’ll help paint a clearer picture of what’s to take shape in future updates?

Mark: The best way to stay up to date with Aethir is through our blog, available at https://blog.aethir.com/blog or social media, listed here: https://link3.to/aethir.

Any final words for our readers?

Mark: We are on an exciting journey to revolutionize AI and gaming through our decentralized cloud infrastructure for everyone. Aethir are committed to pushing the boundaries of technology and empowering developers and businesses worldwide. To the readers and our users, I invite you all to stay tuned for more innovative projects, collaborations, and advancements as we continue to grow and shape the future of computing. Your support and engagement are invaluable to us, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you.

Thanks for your time, Mark!

To stay up to date with Aethir, be sure to check in with the team over on their official social channel here. Alternatively, you can visit the website for additional information here.