What is GAIA in the centralized AI ecosystem? Tokenomics, AI Phone, financing summary

GAIA is fully connecting the end-to-end ecosystem of decentralized AI through three steps: "building protocols, issuing tokens, and launching hardware," returning the control of data and value to users. (Previous context: Breaking Huang Jen-Hsun's inner thoughts: Why can AI only embrace nuclear energy? Four key points that 99% of people do not understand) (Background supplement: Huang Jen-Hsun flashed to Taiwan before the nuclear referendum to shout "Nuclear energy is better," is the scenario of nuclear power at Lir's principal coming true?) GAIA is fully connecting the end-to-end ecosystem of decentralized AI through this three-step strategy of "building protocols, issuing tokens, and launching hardware." By 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 landing of two key developments, this concept has not only been further verified but also opened up new possibilities 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 a privacy-first, localized AI terminal era. GAIA Token Debuts As the economic and governance core of the decentralized AI system, the debut of GAIA token undoubtedly has milestone significance. On July 30, GAIA landed on Binance Alpha platform and simultaneously launched an airdrop activity for community users. On the same day, Bitget exchange also launched related trading pairs and distributed over 4.7 million GAIA tokens 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 also noteworthy: a total of 30 million GAIA tokens will be released 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 successively complete the claim process. GAIA is not just a medium of exchange; it is designed as the lifeline of the entire GAIA network, undertaking key functions such as governance voting, node incentives, proxy deployment, and domain registration, truly achieving transparency in on-chain governance and community co-governance. The design of GAIA token aims to balance the multi-faceted needs of network operation, ecological expansion, and community participation. Of the total token supply, 32% is used 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 strict lock-up and unlocking plans for this part of the tokens to ensure long-term investment rather than short-term cashing out. 16% is held by the foundation's treasury for project strategic reserves and future development. 15% is allocated to the team and core contributors, also implementing linear unlocking over several years to incentivize their continued investment in construction. Additionally, 8% will be used for ecological growth, rewarding developers, partners, and infrastructure providers to promote the landing of application scenarios. 5% is specifically for community participation, covering XP, domain, and node contributors, to encourage users to actively participate in network governance and ecological construction. Finally, 4% is reserved as 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 parts held by the team and investors, while the allocation for the community and contributors is directly used to promote protocol activity and ecological continuous expansion. Launching AI Phone Simultaneously, the launch of Gaia AI Phone marks GAIA's strategic leap from protocol layer to hardware terminal. This AI-native phone, deeply customized based on Galaxy S25 Edge, can execute cross-chain AI inference tasks locally on the device without relying on cloud servers, significantly improving response speed and offline operation capabilities while protecting user privacy. Only 7,000 units will be sold globally, each pre-installed with a Gaia domain system valued at approximately $199, and continuous 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, Gaia AI Phone is not just a hardware product; it represents the realization of the "AI sovereignty" concept. As emphasized by GAIA's COO Shashank Sripada, it allows users to truly control their own data and intelligent entities, freeing themselves from reliance on centralized cloud services and intermediary platforms. The device integrates low-threshold node participation mechanisms, decentralized identifiers and proxy structures, as well as complete on-chain governance modules, ensuring its anti-censorship and decentralization characteristics at the technical level. Financing and Data The rapid rise of the GAIA ecosystem cannot be separated from solid financial support and strong 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 focus on the development of mobile AI hardware, infrastructure expansion, open-source AI toolkits, and cross-chain capability construction. Currently, the GAIA network has been stably operating over 700,000 active nodes, completing over 17 trillion inference calls, demonstrating excellent scalability and practical performance. In addition, Coral Protocol has significantly outperformed Microsoft-supported models with a score of 34% in GAIA Benchmark, validating the technical feasibility of decentralized mini-model architectures. Future Outlook From an industry perspective, GAIA achieves an important 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 intelligent devices. The triple assurance of funding, governance, and technology, coupled with the multi-faceted approach of token launch, airdrop activities, hardware sales, and the release of development tools, collectively creates 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 crypto. In summary, GAIA is fully connecting the end-to-end ecosystem of decentralized AI through the 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 about user sovereignty. For users, developers, and investors alike, GAIA is undoubtedly one of the most noteworthy projects in the current integration of Web3 and AI.