Building a full-stack Decentralization AI: GAIA Token is launched, AI Phone leads a new era of user sovereignty.

Written by: Alex Liu, Foresight News

In 2025, GAIA is gradually realizing its grand vision - to build a complete decentralized artificial intelligence stack extending from the protocol layer to hardware terminals, truly returning the control of data, intelligence, and value to ordinary users.

Recently, with the implementation of two key developments, this concept has not only been further solidified but has also opened up new prospects for the deep integration of Web3 and AI: the native token GAIA has officially launched, and the limited edition AI phone Gaia AI Phone is about to be released, marking the true beginning of an era of privacy-first, localized AI terminals.

GAIA Token Debuts

As the economic and governance core of a decentralized AI system, the launch of the GAIA token is undoubtedly a milestone. On July 30, GAIA was listed on the Binance Alpha platform and simultaneously launched an airdrop event for community users.

On the same day, the Bitget exchange also launched related trading pairs and distributed over 4.7 million GAIA as rewards through marketing activities such as Launchpool and CandyBomb, effectively promoting the initial liquidity and global accessibility of the token.

The airdrop plan is equally eye-catching: a total of 30 million GAIA tokens will be distributed in the first quarter, accounting for 3% of the total token supply, with the overall airdrop pool ratio reaching 5%. From August 6 to November 19, early ecosystem participants—including node operators, domain holders, and XP contributors—can gradually complete their claims.

GAIA is not just a trading medium; it is designed as the lifeline of the entire GAIA network, taking on key functions such as governance voting, node incentives, agent deployment, and domain registration, truly achieving transparency in on-chain governance and community co-governance.

The design of the GAIA token aims to meet the diverse needs of network operation, ecological expansion, and community participation. Of the total token supply, 32% is allocated to support network operations, including rewards for node operators and validators, ensuring network security and long-term stability. 20% is allocated to early supporters, with a strict lock-up and unlocking plan in place to ensure long-term investment rather than short-term cashing out. 16% is held by the foundation's treasury for strategic reserves and future development. 15% is allocated to the team and core contributors, also implementing a multi-year linear unlocking mechanism to incentivize their continued investment in development.

In addition, 8% will be used for ecological growth, rewarding developers, partners, and infrastructure providers to promote the implementation of application scenarios. 5% is specifically allocated for community participation, covering XP, domain, and node contributors to incentivize users to actively participate in network governance and ecological construction. Finally, 4% is reserved as a liquidity pool to ensure the availability and smooth trading of $GAIA in the market. The overall design emphasizes long-term sustainable development, with strict lock-up and release mechanisms for the portions held by the team and investors, while the distribution for the community and contributors is directly used to promote protocol activity and continuous ecological expansion.

Launch AI mobile phone

At the same time, the launch of the Gaia AI Phone marks GAIA's strategic leap from protocol layer to hardware terminal. This AI-native phone, deeply customized based on the Galaxy S25 Edge, is capable of executing cross-chain AI inference tasks locally on the device without relying on cloud servers, significantly enhancing response speed and offline operation capabilities while protecting user privacy.

Only 7,000 units are available globally, each device comes pre-installed with a Gaia domain system valued at approximately $199, and includes ongoing ecological rewards. The first 3,000 pre-order users will also receive tickets to the Korea Blockchain Week (KBW), further enhancing market enthusiasm and community cohesion.

From a more macro perspective, the Gaia AI Phone is not only a hardware product but also represents the realization of the concept of “AI sovereignty.” As emphasized by GAIA's Chief Operating Officer Shashank Sripada, it enables users to truly take control of their data and intelligent agents, freeing them from dependence on centralized cloud services and intermediary platforms. This device integrates a low-threshold node participation mechanism, decentralized identity and agency architecture, and a comprehensive on-chain governance module, ensuring its censorship resistance and decentralized characteristics from the technical foundation.

Financing and Data

The rapid rise of the GAIA ecosystem is inseparable from strong financial support and solid technical infrastructure. In July 2025, GAIA Labs successfully completed a total of $20 million in seed and Series A financing, with investors including well-known institutions such as ByteTrade, SIG, Mirana, and Mantle Eco Fund. These funds will be primarily invested in the development of mobile AI hardware, infrastructure expansion, open-source AI toolkits, and cross-chain capability construction.

Currently, the GAIA network has been stably running with over 700,000 active nodes, completing more than 17 trillion inference calls, demonstrating excellent scalability and practical efficiency. In addition, the Coral Protocol significantly outperformed Microsoft-supported models in the GAIA Benchmark with a score of 34%, validating the technical feasibility of decentralized mini model architecture.

Future Outlook

From an industry perspective, GAIA has achieved a significant leap from decentralized AI protocols to user terminals through a “protocol + hardware” dual-track strategy. Its privacy-first AI interaction model is expected to reshape the relationship between individuals and smart devices. The triple guarantees of funding, governance, and technology, combined with the launch of tokens, airdrop activities, hardware sales, and the release of development tools, collectively create a strong ecological appeal. Of course, challenges still exist, including fierce competition in the hardware market, the educational costs of user habits, and regulatory uncertainties in the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency.

In summary, GAIA is comprehensively connecting the full-stack ecosystem of decentralized AI through its three-step strategy of “building protocols, issuing tokens, and launching hardware.” This is not only a reconstruction of the technical architecture but also a profound awakening regarding user sovereignty. For users, developers, and investors alike, GAIA is undoubtedly one of the most noteworthy projects in the current field of Web3 and AI integration.