Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, projects branded with AI saw rapid investor interest and notable price moves.

Market reaction and technical limits

AI-related crypto tokens recorded an average rise of 41% in the two weeks following ChatGPT's release, reflecting heightened speculative demand.

However, many projects rely on off-chain computation because blockchains such as Ethereum are not built to run machine learning models directly.

Consequently, both training and inference typically occur on external servers, while the chain is used mainly for metadata and access control.

For example, Ocean Protocol stores datasets off-chain and leverages the blockchain primarily to govern metadata and data access permissions.

Infrastructure as a bottleneck

Crypto AI initiatives often face limited throughput and high training costs, which prevents them from competing with large cloud providers and research labs.

Major providers such as OpenAI, Google, and AWS maintain large clusters that are difficult for smaller projects to match in scale or price efficiency.

On 19 November, NVIDIA released a report stating that sales by the end of October reached $57 billion, an increase of 62% year on year.

"We have entered a favorable cycle for AI."

Because most breakthrough AI runs on GPUs and NVIDIA controls roughly 80–90% of that market, hardware capacity currently determines progress and accessibility.

Use cases and consolidation risks

There are practical AI services used in crypto workflows, including signal generation, on‑chain analysis, and behavioral models that speed tasks for individual traders.

One example is the X1000 model, which analyzes reports, news, charts, wallet movements, and holder behavior to suggest token actions and risk metrics.

Such tools can reduce hours of manual work to minutes, but adoption depends on integration with robust infrastructure and reliable data feeds.

As with earlier technology cycles, the market may later filter out projects that leverage the AI label without delivering substantial technical or product value.