From Permanent Storage to Parallel Compute - What is Arweave AO?
What is AO - the "hyper-parallel computer" on top of Arweave? What does it mean for $AR?
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Introduction
Arweave, the decentralized permanent storage protocol, launched AO Computer, a parallel compute layer built on top of the network. Since its announcement on February 13, 2024, the AR token has surged in value, making it one of the best-performing large-cap tokens year-to-date. AO is touted as a "hyper-parallel computer" capable of running a vast number of computations simultaneously in a decentralized and verifiable manner. Some of its core features include:
Ability to split computations into many parallel "threads" that can run independently and communicate with each other, rather than relying on a single shared memory space like traditional blockchains.
Maintains a single system image (SSI), which means that the distributed network of AO nodes presents a single, cohesive computing platform to users and developers.
Built on top of Arweave's permanent data storage network, which enables it to support storing and processing large amounts of data, such as AI models, within its smart contracts.
The use of a new operating system called AOS, designed for highly scalable and parallel computations, running on the Lua programming language.
Is "parallel compute" merely an attempt to catch up with the latest buzzword, or does AO truly have the potential to fulfill its promise of unlocking new use cases and potentially achieving the vision of ‘World Computer’ with a distinct architectural approach? What does this mean for the AR token? By the end of this article, you would gain a clearer insights into these questions as well as the following concepts:
Strict global consensus vs. stateless infrastructure
Storage-based consensus paradigm
AO’s holographic state
Disclaimer: the author holds $AR tokens but this report is not sponsored by Arweave Founder or affiliated entities and is not an inducement to purchase $AR. DYOR!