OceanPal Inc. (OP), a delivery firm greatest recognized for transporting dry bulk and petroleum merchandise, stated it plans to pivot into synthetic intelligence infrastructure by constructing confidential AI cloud providers on the Close to Protocol blockchain.
The Athens-based firm stated it closed a $120 million non-public funding in public fairness (PIPE) deal to launch SovereignAI, a completely owned subsidiary. SovereignAI will function a public-market automobile for publicity to NEAR, a blockchain platform designed for AI functions, in keeping with a press launch shared with CoinDesk. OceanPal will proceed to function its delivery enterprise, which posted a first-half internet lack of $10.4 million.
Whereas many firms have adopted a digital asset treasury technique primarily based on accumulating the best-known cryptocurrencies, corresponding to bitcoin BTC$115,009.10 and ether ETH$4,104.38, SovereignAI would be the first centered on Close to Protocol’s NEAR tokens. The corporate goals to accumulate 10% of the token’s provide over time.
The corporate’s shares, which traded on Nasdaq, fell greater than 20% on Tuesday and had been buying and selling not too long ago at $1.73. They had been priced as excessive as $79 in June.
SovereignAI, which will probably be suggested by a bunch of trade figures, goals to leverage its infrastructure to allow user-owned AI and autonomous agent commerce.
“Our technique goes past treasury administration to actively construct the infrastructure enabling user-owned, privacy-preserving AI at scale,” David Schwed, OceanPal’s chief working officer, stated within the assertion. “NEAR Protocol’s structure gives the belief, safety and financial alignment needed to comprehend true AI sovereignty and unlock the following era of autonomous agent commerce.”
The advisory board will probably be chaired by Close to Basis co-founder Illia Polosukhin and embody key figures from OpenAI, Quicknode and Material Ventures. Backers of the transaction embody Kraken, Proximity and G20 Group.
