Round	Seed+
Instrument	SAFE
Estimated Round Size	$6M USD
Post-Money Cap	$150M USD

Memo​

Talus has conducted a SAFE financing round at a $150M valuation with 1:1 token warrants. The token generation event (TGE) is anticipated in Q4 2024, with one-third of the tokens unlocking after a one-year lockup, followed by a two-year linear vesting schedule. Polychain Capital led the round. Previous investment rounds included participation from dao5, TRGC, Hash3, and Inception.

Talus Network is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for AI smart agents. It utilizes the MoveVM and Move language. The platform includes an agent SDK for developing composable smart agents.

Decentralizing AI aims to improve transparency and user autonomy. Blockchain technology can support these goals through sovereign infrastructure and cryptographic compatibility. Talus has established partnerships with over 20 applications in the sector, including Ritual, Babylon, Allora, and Supra.

Talus is focused on Smart Agents, which are individualized AI applications that operate autonomously. On-chain smart agents can perform transactions, manage portfolios, and act as DAO proxy voters. The Talus ecosystem consists of a protocol level for consensus, execution, and interoperability using IBC. Mirror objects are off-chain AI resources reflected on-chain to provide functionalities to smart agents. The AI stack includes an SDK and integration components for smart agent development. The native token, $TAI, is used for security through Proof-of-Stake (PoS), developer incentives, contributor rewards, governance, and gas payments.

About: https://talus.network/about

Website: https://talus.network

Litepaper: https://talus.network/litepaper.pdf

The project has also released Nexus, a fully on-chain agentic framework.

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Talus - Detailed FAQ

Protocol

AI Stack​

Is the AI stack fully developed, and what is the timeline for the product launch?

The AI stack is in the initial stages of R&D. Progress has been made in integrating a blockchain-based system with large language models (LLMs) for secure and scalable AI inferencing services.

The AI stack will feature Javascript and other SDKs, generic Move contracts and models, and integrations with off-chain resources. The required maturity for the mainnet is targeted for Q4 2024.

What kinds of AI models does Talus initially plan to provide? Any AI models that will be exclusively provided by Talus?

The initial models to be provided by Talus include:

• Efficient 7-8B models for low-cost hardware.
• Large-scale models requiring significant hardware resources.
• Time series models for predictions.
• Image generation diffusion models.
• Music generation models.
• Full RAG + tools for open-source models.

These models will be available for developer experimentation. Talus is also collaborating with model providers like Allora to have an initial set of models at launch. The Talus SDK will support the development of agent frameworks for various use cases.

How to ensure no one provides malicious AI models for use?

As a decentralized and permissionless platform, Talus allows anyone to deploy anything. However, a credit/reputation system for smart agents will be implemented to help users evaluate their quality and avoid potential risks.

Will the AI stack become a modular infrastructure for any dapp outside Talus to use?

The AI stack is designed specifically for Talus. While smart agents can interact with other chains via native IBC integration, the AI stack's use is tied to the Talus execution environment.

Move/Nodes/IBC​

What’s the planned TPS and block time?

The CometBFT block times currently set the upper limit for Talus's protochain. The execution environment for the Cosmos zone will be bound by the Sui Move VM. Performance benchmarks will be optimized after the smart agent implementation is complete and its behavior is observed.

Is it possible that Talus can reach parallel transactions?

Yes, Talus can achieve parallel transaction execution. Parallelization is determined by the VM, not the consensus engine (CometBFT). The separation of transaction ordering and execution in its architecture allows for parallel execution.

Will Talus have its own wallet? or it will integrate with the existing wallet solutions?

Both. As a Cosmos chain, it can utilize Keplr for wallet support but also plans to develop its own wallet with native smart agent interactions.

Will the wallet embed a paymaster solution?

There are no immediate plans for sponsored gas transactions. However, the implementation of a subsidy/cost discount mechanism at the Smart Agent abstraction layer is being explored. The Sui VM's account abstraction features, including support for sponsored transactions, will be available.

What are the validator requirements?

Initial devnet requirements are 16GB RAM, an 8-core CPU, and a 1TB SSD. For the mainnet, these are expected to be recalibrated towards Sui hardware specifications (24-core CPU, 128GB RAM, 4TB SSD).

What are the validator tasks?

Validators primarily run the protochain. Their main tasks include:

• Running CometBFT and the Cosmos blockchain protocol.
• Running the Sui Move VM and executing contracts.
• Providing standard HTTPS and blockchain APIs with Talus-specific endpoints.

Does Talus incorporate owned objects and shared object models?

Yes, it intends to emulate Sui’s object ownership model for full compatibility with Sui Move contracts, supporting both single-owned and shared objects.

Is any compiler and interpreter involved for the Sui Move language when using Cosmos SDK solution?

The entire SuiVM is moved for smart contract execution logic within the x/vm module of the Cosmos SDK. Type compatibility between Sui and Cosmos events and the FFI (Foreign Function Interface) is addressed during the build stage.

Who will do the verification of the computation object? How to ensure the verification is correct?

AI providers will handle computation verification based on developer needs. For zk-provable smart agents, a zkML provider will pass the inference to the network with a proof. Verification can be ensured through zk-proofs or op-proofs. Unverified compute will also be available, with its value determined by market dynamics.

Since Talus is utilizing the Move language and integrating with the IBC on Cosmos, are there any technical compatibility issues between Move and IBC?

The IBC on Cosmos allows for compatibility issues and communication rules to be managed in the relayer implementation. The cosmos/relayer provides the flexibility to implement custom packet encoding and processing.

The IBC, as mentioned in the litepaper, can enhance Talus’s scalability through sharding. However, will cross-chain messaging via IBC introduce latency that affects smart agent execution?

Cross-chain messaging introduces latency, which is related to the dApp/smart agents and not block production. This latency will not slow down the entire chain, and the smart agent specification will allow for asynchronous transaction handling.

Other chains​

Is Talus considering supporting or deploying on other blockchains or technologies, such as the Solana virtual machine or Sei, at a later stage?