SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 2, 2025 — Gaia today announced the launch of the Gaia AI Phone, the world’s first smartphone designed for complete AI sovereignty.
Built on Galaxy S25 Edge hardware and launching initially in Korea and Hong Kong, the device processes AI entirely on-device while operating as a full network node, eliminating the cloud dependency that defines current AI assistants from Apple, Google, and other major technology companies
Unlike traditional AI assistants that send user data to remote servers for processing, the Gaia AI Phone runs sophisticated AI inference—the process of applying trained AI models to generate responses and perform tasks—locally through the company’s proprietary Gaia AI Platform. Each phone operates as a full Gaia network node, contributing computational resources to the decentralized AI infrastructure while earning token rewards for providing inference capacity to other network participants.
“Every major tech company is putting AI on phones the same way – your data goes to their cloud, gets processed on their servers, and they control the experience,” said Matt Wright, CEO of Gaia. “We’ve proven that sophisticated AI can run entirely on your device while transforming users from AI consumers into active infrastructure owners who earn rewards for network participation.”
This launch represents the first in a series of major Gaia announcements planned for Q3 and Q4 2025, as decentralized AI emerges as a critical alternative to centralized control over artificial intelligence. The company is positioning itself at the forefront of the decentralized AI movement, demonstrating that users can maintain complete control over their AI experience while participating in a growing ecosystem of AI sovereignty tools and platforms.
This represents a fundamental shift from the traditional SaaS AI model. Instead of paying subscription fees to access centralized AI services, users become stakeholders in a decentralized network, earning token rewards while contributing to collective AI inference capabilities. The economic model aligns user incentives with network growth, creating sustainable decentralized AI infrastructure.
The Gaia AI Phone launches with an ecosystem of exclusive partner integrations, including EdenLayer’s AI gaming platform, Roam’s global eSIM data package and Umy’s crypto-native travel booking discounts. Phone owners also receive token airdrops from partner projects, representing immediate participation in the decentralized AI economy. Additional major partnerships with leading Web3 and gaming projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
“The technical challenge of fitting enterprise-grade AI into mobile hardware while maintaining full node functionality required breakthrough compression and optimization techniques,” said Shashank Sripada, COO of Gaia. “This isn’t just about privacy – it’s proving that decentralized AI infrastructure can deliver performance that rivals centralized systems while creating economic value for participants.”
The underlying technology represents a significant engineering achievement, compressing language model capabilities that previously required data center infrastructure to run efficiently on smartphone hardware with full network participation capabilities. The company will demonstrate live AI inference and network operations at Korea Blockchain Week in September.
The device addresses growing concerns about AI centralization and data sovereignty in the blockchain community. While traditional AI systems extract value from user data for centralized entities, Gaia’s model distributes both processing power and economic benefits among network participants, creating a truly decentralized alternative to centralized AI monopolies.
The Gaia AI Phone represents a controlled technology demonstration designed to validate decentralized AI architecture on consumer hardware. This initial release allows Gaia to prove the platform’s capabilities while working directly with early adopters to refine the ecosystem experience and optimize network participation features.
The initial release includes 1,000 units available for early adopters, allowing Gaia to work directly with this select group to optimize the platform experience before expanding availability. Additional controlled releases will follow based on platform validation progress and community feedback.
The Gaia AI Phone is available for pre-order at mobile.gaianet.ai with deliveries beginning in late 2025. Pricing starts at $1,399 with exclusive partner benefits and network participation rewards included.
About Gaia
Gaia is building decentralized AI infrastructure that puts users in control of their AI experience. Its peer-to-peer network enables anyone to run AI models on independent nodes, ensuring transparency, privacy, and user ownership rather than dependence on centralized cloud infrastructure. Founded in 2024, Gaia has raised over $20 million and partnered with leading institutions including UC Berkeley to demonstrate practical applications of decentralized AI technology.
Website: www.gaianet.ai
Twitter: @GaiaNet_AI
