AI governance enhancements are proposed, such as AI-augmented prediction markets, analysis tools, consensus detection, and simulation capabilities, designed to augment human decision-making rather than replace it.

The article was published on February 10, 2026.

The post arrives amid a market focus on short-term price movements, serving as a reminder of Ethereum’s original ethos of long-horizon foundational technology.

The discussion appears on X and reflects an aim to combine crypto and AI perspectives to foster AI-enabled decentralized systems.

Buterin’s February 9, 2026 Twitter post revisits ideas from about two years earlier, signaling a renewed emphasis on broader potential rather than immediate applications.

The piece notes the ideas circulated via an X post and connect to earlier writings from 2023 and 2024 about crypto–AI overlap and DAO design.

He revisits two-year-old ideas, warning that the rush toward AGI often mirrors the unchecked speed Ethereum was designed to counter.

The article places Ethereum’s price around $2,054 and includes a standard DYOR disclaimer.

The piece frames a broader strategic shift for AI governance, technology design, and policy choices across crypto and AI to balance innovation with safety and user empowerment.

It presents a long-term roadmap to shape whether AI becomes a democratizing force or a centralizing risk, relying on cryptographic innovation, decentralized governance, and scalable infrastructure.

Privacy-preserving AI tools are central to the vision, including local LLMs on user devices, zero-knowledge payments for anonymous API calls, and client-side verification with cryptographic proofs and trusted execution environments.

Vitalik argues Ethereum should power trustless AI coordination and act as the economic layer for decentralized AI governance and reputation, not simply chase a rapid AGI race.