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(Kitco News) - Microsoft has formed a new partnership with Aptos Labs, the firm behind the development of products and applications on the layer-1 blockchain network Aptos, with the goal of accelerating global web3 adoption using Microsoft Azure OpenAI service through the creation of an artificial intelligence chatbot, dubbed “Aptos Assistant.”
The relative newness of web3 means that onboarding new users is still a challenge, as the process can be complex and time-consuming, which prevents many people from exploring the web3 ecosystem.
Some challenges new web3 users face once they've started engaging with the ecosystem include creating wallets to complete the onboarding process, converting fiat currency to cryptocurrency, and understanding how blockchain and decentralization benefit users personally.
To help overcome these challenges, Aptos Labs created the Aptos Assistant, which will operate as “a responsible, user-friendly and secure assistant bridging web2 to web3 for the everyday internet user and organization,” according to the press release.
“Aptos Assistant will enable users to seamlessly onboard into web3 by asking any kind of question regarding the Aptos blockchain ecosystem using natural language,” the release said. “It will also be available to guide developers as they build smart contracts and decentralized apps – and direct them toward relevant, accessible resources.”
Blockchain technology is slowly becoming a key component of the underlying infrastructure for global financial markets as governments around the world explore things like central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots over the past year holds the promise of ushering in the next wave of technological innovation.
This partnership between Microsoft and Aptos Labs is looking to harness the building momentum behind these two fields to help accelerate the process of migrating users into the web3 ecosystem.
“Artificial Intelligence and blockchain technologies are quickly converging for one important reason: they are both generational breakthroughs that profoundly impact the evolution of the internet and shape society,” said Mo Shaikh, CEO of Aptos Labs. “Together with Microsoft, our shared vision is to ensure that this technology is accessible to more people and organizations than ever before.”
The partnership will also explore other facets of the emerging digital asset economy that are predicted to further advance the adoption of web3 by financial services enterprises, including asset tokenization, payments and CBDCs. Aptos will run validator nodes on Azure as a way to enhance the reliability and security of the Aptos blockchain.
“The intersection of AI and blockchain is one of the most interesting combinations of emerging technologies and can generate transformational use cases,” said Rashmi Misra, General Manager of AI and Emerging Technologies at Microsoft. “By fusing Aptos Labs' technology with the Microsoft Azure Open AI Service capabilities, we aim to democratize the use of blockchain enabling users to seamlessly onboard to web3 and innovators to develop new exciting decentralized applications using AI.”
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Microsoft continues to be one of the most active multinational technology companies participating in the development, rollout, and adoption of blockchain technology on a global scale.
In February, the company partnered with Ankr, a decentralized blockchain infrastructure provider, to provide a novel node hosting service on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace in order to support enterprises and organizations that need access to blockchain data. Through the collaboration, developers are able to develop on Ankr's RPCs and middleware platform for decentralized apps (DApps) and use Microsoft's cloud platform to meet their scaling needs.
RPC nodes, such as those offered by Ankr, allow decentralized applications to link to blockchains and access user data. For this reason, they serve as a critical piece of infrastructure for the blockchain sector.
Microsoft is also a participant in the Central Bank of Brazil’s (BC) pilot project for its CBDC, which was recently rebranded to the ‘Drex,’ and the company is also involved with the Canton Network, a privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network designed for institutional assets.
The goal of the Canton Network is to help create opportunities for financial institutions to offer new innovative products to their clients while enhancing their efficiency and risk management. The platform enables participants to safeguard permissions, exposure, and interactions across the network while maintaining full compliance with security, regulatory and legal requirements.
