Blockchain experts Illia Polosukhin and Alex Skidanov discuss sharding technology and scalability in Near Protocol. Topics include challenges of building a sharded blockchain, stateless validation, shard security, and comparing shards vs. rollups. The podcast explores how Near Protocol improves leaderless chunk production and chain abstraction for efficiency in blockchain networks.

Illia Polosukhin and Alex Skidanov, co-founders of NEAR Protocol, dive deep into the intersection of AI and blockchain. They discuss the revolutionary 'Attention is All You Need' paper and its impact on language processing. The duo emphasizes the vision for user-owned AI and how decentralization empowers individuals over platforms. They share insights on the challenges of distributed AI training, the necessity of private computing for user control, and creating fair compensation models using smart contracts. Their thought-provoking ideas shed light on the future of technology and democratic access to AI.