Together AI and Pearl Research Labs Reduce AI Inference Costs with Blockchain

AI inference is a crucial aspect of artificial intelligence, but it comes with a significant cost. To address this challenge, Together AI has partnered with Pearl Research Labs to develop an innovative solution using blockchain technology.

The partnership uses Proof of Useful Work (PoUW), a consensus mechanism designed to replace traditional energy-wasting Proof of Work tasks with computations that deliver real-world value. PoUW directs computational resources toward valuable tasks such as model training, scientific simulations, or data analysis, making AI workloads more efficient and economically viable.

The collaboration has resulted in a discounted inference endpoint for the Gemma-4-31B-it-pearl model, which leverages Pearl's blockchain protocol to turn AI computations into cryptocurrency emissions. This setup reduces inference costs by over 25%, providing significant savings for enterprises deploying large-scale AI models.