Inference Network

An inference network is a system that processes requests through an AI model and returns an output, such as a prediction, classification, image, or text response. In crypto, the term usually refers to a decentralized network where many independent compute providers run AI models and get paid for serving inference. The blockchain or related protocol may handle payments, access control, reputation, staking, or verification that the work was performed correctly.

This matters because AI inference can be expensive and concentrated in large cloud platforms. A decentralized inference network aims to create an open marketplace for AI compute, where developers can send requests to available providers instead of relying on one centralized service. For example, a crypto app might use an inference network to summarize governance proposals or detect suspicious transactions, paying nodes per request. Compared with training a model, which is like teaching it from a large dataset, inference is the everyday use of that trained model to answer new questions.