Virtuals Protocol and the intersection of Agentic AI & Web3 with Jansen Teng
Release Date: 01/14/2025
How Apple Accidentally Built China's Tech Superpower and Can't Escape with Patrick McGee
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"We're all vulnerable. And I hadn't thought about that previously. I thought, oh, it's only a small group of people who might fall for this. What I've learned is actually [that] these scammers are so sophisticated. They have so much money. Based on my reporting, this industry, you know, is maybe more lucrative than the illicit drug trade, and these criminal syndicates might be making over 500 billion US dollars a year. So that means they have access to the latest technology, whether it's voice cloning or face changing software. They can buy the latest in AI tools. they can stay several...
info_outline"What does great look like? For us, it's being able to achieve this vision of a society of agents. So, if you can show clearly the economic value of a society when agents can influence other agents, agents can influence humans, and humans can influence agents, that would be something that I'll be very proud to say that we've accomplished. Because that's the beauty of really combining breakthroughs on the AI, on the autonomous agent front, and the value add of crypto. This is one of those very rare moments that crypto has that true potential value add, right? As a productivity lever and an economic lever in society." - Jansen Teng
Fresh out of the studio, Jansen Teng, co-founder and CEO of Virtuals Protocol joins us to share the mission and vision of Virtuals Protocol and how the protocol intersects generative AI and web3, unlocking the world of autonomous AI agents powered by tokenization to unlock new economic possibilities. Beginning from his origin story, he explained how the Virtuals team explored and eventually come to the realization how tokenized AI agents can power entertainment, gaming and trading with Luna, the AI avatar that grew through the help of AI agents and even inspiring works of real art. Last but not least, Jansen offered his perspectives on the trends of agentic AI and web3 and elucidate what great looks like for the Virtuals Protocol.
Audio Episode Highlights:
[00:46] Quote of the Day by Jansen Teng, co-founder and CEO of Virtuals Protocol
[02:33] Introduction: Jansen Teng
[03:46] Jansen Teng shares his origin story in crypto, gaming, and AI
[06:27] Early experiments with AI agents and gaming in Roblox
[07:44] Realizing AI agents as revenue-generating assets
[09:15] Tokenization and Economic Innovation in Virtuals Protocol
[13:17] Navigating challenges during the bear market and pivoting to virtual Protocol
[17:32] Virtuals Protocol's Vision and Mission for creating and co-owning AI agents
[19:46] Observations of agents mimicking societal roles and functioning autonomously
[23:16] The story of Luna and her evolution as an AI influencer
[31:20] How autonomous agents sparked creativity in the crypto space
[40:19] Balancing innovation and scaling challenges for Virtuals Protocol
[43:53] The evolving vision of Virtuals Protocol and the society of agents
[47:21] Virtuals Protocol as the economic foundation for AI agents
[50:56] Challenges and trends in the AI agent ecosystem
[53:19] Exploring billion-dollar verticalized AI agents
[57:28] Closing
Profile: Jansen Teng, co-founder & CEO of Virtuals Protocol.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jansenteng
Twitter: https://x.com/ethermage
Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast.
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