0G: The First AI Native Blockchain

Zero Gravity is the first ever AI native Blockchain. 0G's network is built to combat the current issues plaguing most blockchain infrastructure: High costs, low speeds, technical barriers and platform lock-in. It is fair to say that 0G went to the moon and back to make their network accessible. Today, we’ll explore what makes 0G unique where there is a sea of sameness.

Meet The Founders

• Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G,  is a serial entrepreneur and visionary operator focused on turning AI into a public good. Before 0G, he founded and scaled Garten, a top Y Combinator and Stanford StartX company, into a unicorn and one of the leading enterprise wellbeing platforms in the U.S. He’s raised $500M+, generated $200M+ in revenue, led teams of over 650 people, acquired four companies, and guided the business through crises while maintaining industry-leading customer metrics and periods of profitability. Educated at Harvard, Stanford, and UC Berkeley (where he was summa cum laude), Michael met his 0G co-founder, Thomas Yao, at Stanford. His work has been featured across major media outlets, and he’s an active investor, mentor, and lecturer at Stanford. In short, he makes the impossible possible. 

• Thomas Yao, co-founder and Chief Business Officer of 0G, is a multidisciplinary builder with roots in physics, autonomous systems, and venture capital. Before 0G, he worked on self-driving technology at the University of Michigan and later co-founded IMO Ventures at Stanford, where he invested in early frontier technologies, including an early blockchain project that returned over 10,000× (At Stanford, Thomas also met Michael). At 0G, Thomas wears multiple hats: business strategy, partnerships, and ecosystem growth. His unique mix of technical chops and investor savvy lets him translate deep infrastructure into real-world adoption.

• Ming Wu, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of 0G, is a veteran researcher and systems architect with deep expertise in distributed systems, storage, and AI infrastructure. Before 0G, he spent more than a decade at Microsoft Research Asia, focusing on large-scale computation and data platforms. He also co-founded Conflux Network (which reached unicorn status in 2023), bringing his blockchain experience to 0G, where he now leads the design of 0G’s modular stack (data availability, compute, and storage).  Ming has a knack of taking complex systems, making them simple and creating a way for millions of people to use them. 

• Fan Long, co-founder and Chief Strategy & Security Officer of 0G, is the brains keeping the chain safe, a cryptography and systems security expert who can make even the trickiest vulnerabilities sweat. Fan is a former MIT PhD researcher and current University of Toronto faculty member, he combines academic rigor with real-world blockchain expertise. Before 0G, he co-founded Conflux Network alongside Ming Wu, giving him hands-on experience building and securing cutting-edge blockchain systems. At 0G, Fan drives strategic security and architecture, designing and safeguarding the modular AI-blockchain stack that powers the network. Simply put, he makes sure 0G isn’t just powerful and scalable, but also locked down tighter than Fort Knox.

Members Of The Core Team At 0G:

Jake Salerno - Head of business development:

Jake is a seasoned business development leader with a diverse and strong background. His experience includes being the head of data (GTM) at Chainlink Labs where he worked on market penetration and growth, strategic partnerships and sales strategy development. Jake studied at The University Of Miami and obtained a Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), architecture. 

Micheal Dressler - Head of Success:

Micheal has robust knowledge with sales and marketing. His experience includes being an Ecosystem Growth Lead at Chainlink Labs where he Built out market analysis and penetration frameworks. Micheal graduated cum laude at The University Of Monmouth and obtained a B.A degree in Communications radio/TV.

Arne Hartmann - CFO:

Arne brings deep experience in finance, investment, and fintech. Formerly with General Atlantic, he has a strong track record in global growth investing and scaling businesses. Arne is responsible for financial strategy, capital planning, and scaling the company’s business operations. Arne holds a Master’s degree from Stanford Business School.

We’re only scratching the surface with 0G’s all-star team. This list should demonstrate the quality of talent that is breeding success in 0G. 0G has 8 PHD’s holders in computer science across their team. 

0G’s Key Collaborators

0G has a multitude of partners ranging from industries like AI, gaming, Web3 infrastructure, Roll-ups-as-a-service and DePin. These partners are some of the biggest in the industry including: Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud, OKX wallet, and anchorage digital. 

• Alibaba Cloud brings industry-leading computing and storage to 0G's decentralized AI stack, creating infrastructure specifically built for data-intensive AI workloads across the APAC region. 

• Google Cloud joined 0G's mainnet launch as a day-one ecosystem partner, validating the infrastructure from a cloud-native perspective. 

• OKX wallet is integrated into 0G’s ecosystem, simplifying access for users across chains.  

• Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered digital asset bank, provides institutional-grade custody that lets traditional finance players actually participate.

A Deep Dive Into 0G Ecosystem

What makes 0G Ecosystem unique is its presence across diverse Web3 sectors, bridging multiple industries under one platform. These include:

1. AI projects:

As an AI-native platform, 0G is home to standout projects like Pond, Bagel, Capx, and Talus each bringing unique capabilities across inferences, training, applications, and agent-based systems.

2. Gaming:

Thanks to 0G Compute, 0G Storage, 0G DA and 0G chain, making a game becomes more scalable, affordable and simpler to make. Blade Games, Neon Machine and Gaimin leverage 0G to build a world class gaming experience.

3. L1’s, L2’s and Rollups-as-a-service:

0G’s robust Data Availability and secure interoperability allow L1’s, L2’s and RaaS’s to thrive as they have access to 0G’s deAIOS. Companies like Arbitrium and Rome Protocol thrive on 0G’s modular architecture. 

4. DePin:

With 0G's modular storage layer and data availability solution, DePin networks can handle high-throughput data streams on-chain without the usual tradeoffs between cost and performance.

Funding 

With generative AI raising major red flags around data governance, cost, and centralized control, 0G has successfully raised more than $350 million to build a modular, decentralized AI Layer‑1 (L1) blockchain that offers not just computation but also storage and data availability. Backed by investors like Hack VC, Delphi, Samsung Next, and Animoca to build and scale its deAIOS. The investor mix signals these investors believe centralized AI infrastructure is a legitimate bottleneck. This funding allows 0G to hire top talent (as they have a collective of 8 PHD’s and one of the best cryptographers in the world on staff), weather multiple market cycles, and focus on building instead of constantly fundraising.

0G’s Ecosystem Programs

0G not only backs blockchain, they are supporting the people who ship. Whether your project is in agentic infrastructure, DeFi, payments, prediction markets, or the cutting-edge world of DeSci, they’re here to make sure your ideas don’t just stay on a whiteboard. 

Here’s what you get when you join Guild-on-0G:

• Funding for your project

• Hands on support from 0G labs: OG has one of the most dynamic teams in Web3 who knows the space inside out.

• Collaborate with other builders: Building a project by yourself is boring, but building with a community around you that pushes you is game changing.

• Ecosystem visibility — get noticed, attract users, and show the world what you’re building.

Think of it as the launchpad your project deserves. Past Guild cohort 1 success stories like Zer0Pulse, Kult Games, and Opus Chain are already making waves and your project could be next.

Post your project on Guild Hall and apply: https://guild.0gfoundation.ai/ 

The Numbers Behind 0G’s Tokenomics

0G launched with a total supply of 1 billion tokens, of which 21.3% are initially in circulation. The network features a modest annual inflation rate of 3.5%, designed to support ecosystem growth. Here’s how the initial tokens are distributed:

28% Ecosystem Development: For protocol expansion, infrastructure building, and developer incentives, ensuring sustainable growth.

15% AI Alignment Nodes and : Rewards nodes that maintain AI safety and trustworthiness.

13% Community Rewards: Includes airdrops, user incentives, and event rewards to encourage engagement and adoption.

22% Team & Advisors: Subject to a 12-month cliff and up to 36-month linear vesting, aligning long-term incentives.

22% Investors: Early-stage institutional and strategic investors under the same vesting schedule to support growth and stability.

0G’s token allocation reflects a strong focus on building and supporting the ecosystem. The largest portion, 28%, is dedicated to ecosystem development, funding protocol expansion, infrastructure, and developer incentives, because 0G’s priority is empowering builders and growing a thriving network.

Tech and Community Updates

0G gets better with every update and this therefore enhances its performance and capabilities. Some notable recent developments include:

• Tech Update: 0G Chain v3.0.3 is now live for testnet nodes - this means an improved validator API and better transaction broadcasting

• $cbBTC is live on the 0G mainnet - boosted rewards include APR’s reaching up to 760%

• 0G Compute SDK has released version 0.6.2.

• On Dec 24, 2025, all Alignment Node licenses will automatically migrate from Arbitrum to 0G Chain, becoming fully transferable for the first time. No action is needed for the migration itself.

• Community update: The first season of 0G Starboard has wrapped up and rewards are ready to collect - https://app.galxe.com/quest/earndrop/2t8spm7gTyD4D9okonpd69 

• 0G just dropped a video tutorial library that cuts straight to what matters: step-by-step walkthroughs that show you exactly how to build real decentralized AI apps with DeAIOS. 

• To stay in the loop with everything 0G is building, make sure to follow them on X. It’s the easiest way to join their regular Firesides, AMAs, and online events. It’s designed to help the community learn, connect, and get involved as the ecosystem evolves.

Conclusion

With a world-class team,  breakthrough architecture, and an ecosystem forming around AI-native applications, 0G’s latest milestone marks the beginning of a new era where scale is no longer the limiting factor. As the network progresses toward 100,000 TPS per shard and near-instant finality, 0G is poised to become the foundational layer powering the next generation of autonomous agents, AI-driven economies, and data-intensive applications across the decentralized web.