Solana Unveils ChatGPT Plugin, $1M Grant for AI Startups
- Solana Labs announced the creation of an open-source reference implementation for a ChatGPT plugin for direct interaction via the AI chatbot.
- Users can retrieve data like wallet balances, transfer tokens, and purchase NFTs with the help of the plugin.
- The Solana Foundation has announced a $1 million grant for small-scale startups working to explore the intersection of blockchain and AI.
- The organization is working with Google Cloud on its extension of the Google for Startups Cloud Program focused on startups.
One of the leading blockchain ecosystems over the past few years, Solana (SOL), has been facing a significant decline in its usage following multiple outages during the crypto market crash in 2022 and many applications migrating to more secure blockchains like Polygon (MATIC) and Avalanche (AVAX). However, the organization responsible for the development of the Ethereum-killer blockchain, Solana Labs, has announced a shift of focus to artificial intelligence and debuted a new ChatGPT plugin for users.
Solana Labs announced the creation of an open-source reference implementation for a ChatGPT plugin that lets users interact with the blockchain directly from the AI chatbot, allowing users to check wallet balances, transfer tokens, and purchase NFTs once the plugins are available. The code is live for the developers to debug, test, and launch their own versions as well.
In a series of images shared by Solana Labs in the Twitter post above, the first image shows a user asking for a list of NFTs owned by a particular address on the blockchain, followed by ChatGPT providing instructions for the same. In the second image, the user asks for help sending a SOL transaction to another address, and in the third screenshot, they ask for help purchasing an NFT.
The plugin replies to each query with a series of relevant instructions or information in natural language. The github data confirms that the ChatGPT plugin can successfully retrieve data about account balances, assets held, transactions, signatures, NFT collections, and more. Meanwhile, the official launch date for the plugin has yet to be revealed by Solana Labs.
Solana Foundation’s $1M Grant
Solana Labs has also announced a $1 million grant for small-scale startups that are working to explore the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). The grants range from $5,000 to $25,000, and both new and existing projects are eligible for the same.
“Solana’s high throughput and scalability provide a unique opportunity to build brand new ideas with AI. These grants are meant to encourage the Solana ecosystem to explore new use cases of these novel technologies,” said the Foundation in a follow-up Twitter post.
In order for a project to be eligible for the grant, it must be publicly available for others to use, be open-source when launched, and have the source code available to the Foundation.
The Foundation announced that it will support Google Cloud in its expansion of the Google for Startups Cloud Program. The program now includes Web3 firms such as Alchemy, Aptos, Base, Celo, Flow, Hedera, Nansen, Near, Polygon, Solana, and Thirdweb.
The startups eligible for the program will have several perks and benefits. Seeded firms can also access up to $3 million in funding from Polygon Ventures, while all the participants selected will receive priority review for the Polygon Ventures Ecosystem Fund, followed by discounts on the products provided by Nansen.
As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, Solana unveiled a new, cost-effective solution for on-chain storage that will reduce the cost of minting 1 million non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain to $110 from $250,000. Jon Wong, the technical lead on the ecosystem engineering team at the Foundation, said that the solution will use Merkle trees.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
