AI development often comes at the expense of data collected en masse by centralized operators. Telegram founder Pavel Durov wants to address this situation with a decentralized solution called Cocoon, built on the TON blockchain.
Pavel Durov presents the Cocoon project
For many years now, Telegram messaging has been actively involved in the development of the cryptocurrency sector, particularly due to its founding principles of confidentiality and decentralization, even though its first experience with the GRAM token ended in a bitter regulatory failure in 2020.
Following this misadventure, the TON (The Open Network) blockchain took off independently, while remaining closely linked to the ambitions of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who was determined not to be silenced in this way. This provided an opportunity to develop an entire ecosystem of decentralized mini-applications (dApps) linked to this messaging service, generating more than $1 billion over the past year.
It is in this context that Pavel Durov has just made another important announcement at the Blockchain Life 2025 event held in Dubai in recent days. On the agenda: the development of a decentralized AI network called Cocoon, which stands for Confidential Compute Open.
Why is it important to do things this way rather than in a centralized manner, which is sometimes more convenient? It’s important because the world has taken a strange turn. For the past 20 years, we have been gradually losing our digital freedoms.
Pavel Durov
A network powered by graphics processing units (GPUs)
From a technical standpoint, this decentralized AI network will obviously be deployed on the TON blockchain, with active support from the Telegram messaging service.
Telegram will be the first major client to use Cocoon for confidential AI queries – and will invest heavily in promoting the network across its global ecosystem.
Cocoon
Interestingly, it will be possible to make the computing power of graphics processing units (GPUs) available in exchange for rewards paid in Toncoin (TON).
The main goal of the Cocoon project is to offer a decentralized AI service using “private and confidential computing.” In this case, this goal is based on a DePin-type infrastructure, already widely used by the sector’s flagship project, Bittensor (TAO).
The real challenge for this decentralized AI network will be its ability to generate sufficient computing power to enable it to function properly, while maintaining competitive usage costs. Its public launch is scheduled for November.
