Onicai has outlined its plan to shift from a team-driven project to a community-governed network, releasing a whitepaper that details how its proposed SNS would take ownership of a wide collection of working products, protocols and tools already running on the Internet Computer. The move marks the start of a decentralisation phase built around shared ownership, audited processes and open participation, with the team positioning the SNS as a framework for running autonomous AI systems without relying on central control.
The whitepaper describes Onicai’s goal of creating a distributed Intelligence-as-a-Service layer. Rather than processing tasks through a single organisation or data centre, their approach combines community governance with a technical model in which AI agents operate across on-chain logic, local devices and verified external computation. This structure is meant to allow different agents to take on specialised workloads while still being coordinated and verifiable.
Two ideas sit at the heart of the system. Proof of AI Work provides a method to verify the activity of decentralised agents and reward those who contribute useful work. The team claims this allows automation to be coordinated and rewarded without depending on intermediaries. Chain Fusion AI then connects on-chain governance with private on-device processing and heavier tasks handled in trusted environments or through verified APIs. Together, these concepts are meant to deliver a modular way to run AI systems that do not need to be bundled into large, opaque models.
If the SNS is approved, it will take ownership of a wide range of existing Onicai assets. These include the Proof of AI Work protocol, the IConfucius on-chain agent, the DeVinci decentralised chat app, funnAI, ICGPT, the llama_cpp_canister, the Charles AI NFT project, the icpp-pro development kit and several hackathon-built demonstrations such as a Bitcoin donation tool. All code bases will be open sourced and folded into the SNS so they can be maintained, expanded or reworked under community direction.
The governance model relies on a treasury controlled by token holders. Funding for development would follow a milestone proposal process where contributors request payment in two stages, before and after delivery. That structure is designed to provide community oversight without stalling progress. The treasury will be funded by the decentralisation sale, product revenues, client work, liquidity fees and staking yields. Large portions of the ICP and ONICAI tokens placed in the treasury at launch will be staked so they unlock gradually. The intention is to encourage long-term planning rather than short-term spending.
The ONICAI token serves both governance and utility purposes. When staked, it grants voting rights on proposals and strategic choices. Within the platform, it will be used for access to premium features, as an escrow layer for AI solutions, for payments between users, agents and service providers, and as a weighting mechanism that influences how solutions appear in the marketplace. Reward structures will be used to encourage development, maintenance and participation.
The Onicai DeAI Platform will act as a unified interface for the network, integrating existing applications and opening the door for third-party tools. Users will be able to operate their own Proof of AI Work setups, use multi-model chat across different devices and environments, and access a range of agents and utilities as the catalogue expands. The whitepaper notes that the platform aims to remain compatible with standards such as Model Context Protocol and Agent2Agent where they apply.
Alongside the SNS, Onicai plans to run a B2B development house that builds custom AI systems for organisations. Revenue from those projects would feed back into the SNS treasury, strengthening the ecosystem while broadening the pool of contributors.
Supporters of the project point to its active products and partnerships. Onicai is backed by Outlier Ventures, DFINITY and several ICP hubs, and the team has been working publicly on decentralised AI tools since early 2023. They argue that the decentralisation phase comes at a time when demand for autonomous agents is rising and concerns about centralised AI power are widespread.
Others in the wider Web3 and AI communities have raised questions that apply to all decentralised AI initiatives. These include how to handle quality assurance, what kinds of checks can be applied to complex model outputs, how incentives should be balanced between small and large contributors, and how to guard against bad actors attempting to influence governance. Onicai’s approach of cryptographic verification for agent work aims to address some of these concerns, but observers note that practical, large-scale testing will be the real measure.
The tokenomics parameters outlined in the whitepaper include a one billion total supply of ONICAI, a decentralisation sale that requires a minimum of one hundred participants, and vesting events spread across eight intervals. The SNS treasury receives the largest share of tokens, with a smaller allocation to developers and advisors. The sale framework is designed to keep participation open while preventing any single party from taking an outsized position.
The list of assets being transferred to the SNS highlights the depth of the project’s early work. funnAI, which launched in mid-2025, showcases Proof of AI Work in a gamified environment. IConfucius demonstrates how an AI agent can operate entirely on chain. DeVinci offers decentralised chat with models running directly on user devices. ICGPT and the llama_cpp_canister allow open-source models to run as Internet Computer canisters. Charles provides a way to update NFT artwork through on-chain generative AI. The icpp-pro kit gives C++ developers a path to build smart contracts. Together, these form a network of tools that can be expanded or combined once placed under community governance.
The team behind Onicai says its shift toward decentralisation is designed to ensure that AI infrastructure can grow in a way that is transparent and resistant to control from any single group. They describe the SNS as a mechanism that aligns incentives, distributes decision-making and encourages broad participation in shaping the future of the platform.
How widely the community adopts the SNS proposal will become clear as feedback accumulates. If the decentralisation sale attracts broad participation and the governance model proves workable, Onicai could play an influential role in experiments around decentralised AI. If challenges arise regarding security, coordination or practical deployment, those will become early case studies for other projects exploring similar paths.
For now, the whitepaper marks the beginning of a public process that invites scrutiny, collaboration and community influence. Onicai’s direction from here depends on how that community responds and the extent to which developers, users and stakeholders choose to engage with the vision it has put forward.
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