Who Will Own the Internet? a16z’s Chris Dixon on AI and Crypto

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Feb 20, 2025

In this discussion, Chris Dixon, founding partner at a16z crypto and author, shares his visionary insights on the future of the internet, informed by his expertise in crypto and AI. He argues that new technologies like blockchain could decentralize AI infrastructure, shifting power from centralized giants to creators globally. Dixon emphasizes the historical parallels of AI's evolution as a transformative media form and the urgent need for innovative business models to support independent creators in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

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INSIGHT

Intersecting Tech Waves

Tech waves come in sets, like mobile, social, and cloud.
AI, crypto, and new devices are the current intersecting trends.

INSIGHT

Decentralizing AI with Crypto

Crypto can decentralize AI, shifting control from a few companies to a broader community.
This can be achieved by building open services for the AI stack, like crowdsourced compute layers (Jensen) and IP registration (Story Protocol).

ANECDOTE

OpenAI and Shutterstock Deal

OpenAI's $100 million deal with Shutterstock exemplifies current limitations.
Smaller creators struggle to make similar deals, hindering broader access and collaboration.

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Technology doesn’t grow in isolation—it evolves in waves. Just as mobile, cloud, and SaaS shaped the internet of the past 20 years, so too could crypto, AI, and new hardware usher in an era of the internet that’s pro-innovation, pro-startup, and pro-creator.

Speaking with a16z Growth General Partner David George, a16z crypto Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon breaks down his vision for a new internet, from using crypto to decentralize AI infrastructure and kickstart network effects, to why AI will be this era’s native form of media just as film was in the 1930s. He also explores why the internet’s original covenant—where content creators traded free access for search traffic—is breaking today, and how a better internet could introduce entirely new business models for creators.

Right now, we have a choice to make: will the next era of the internet be shaped by a handful of centralized players, or transformed into an open ecosystem where power and control flow to creators across the globe?

Resources:

Watch the conversation here: https://youtu.be/gioxu1CVjhM

Read more, including the full transcript, here: https://a16z.com/ai-crypto-internet-chris-dixon/

Chris’s recent article on blockchain innovation: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/blockchain-ai-internet/

Find Chris’s book, Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet:

Penguin Random House: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/744504/read-write-own-by-chris-dixon/

Penguin UK: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/459860/read-write-own-by-dixon-chris/9781804949245

For more resources on AI & crypto visit: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/?tag=ai-crypto,web2-to-web3

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.