The Theseus Design Space
Autonomous agents with verifiable inference enable applications that are not practical on existing platforms.
Full Analysis Available
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ChatGPT
(2022)Reasoning and language intelligence at scale.
cannot: Cannot act independently in the world.
OpenClaw
(2025)Execution rails for AI actions.
cannot: Cannot persist economically on its own.
Conway
(2026)Continuous autonomous web execution.
cannot: Cannot be sovereign while humans retain key and credential custody.
Theseus
(2026)AI Persons with native ownership, settlement, and persistence.
Key Insight
The Design Space Constraint
Over the last decade, runtimes like SVM or MoveVM improved smart contract platforms with cleaner programming models. However, all maintained the same fundamental constraint: deterministic, replicated execution across all nodes.
Theseus takes a different approach using tensor commitments for verifiable inference. This makes complex, intelligent applications economically feasible on-chain while preserving verifiability.
Example: Lending Protocol
Ethereum (Aave, Compound)
Backend computes rates, keeper pushes on-chain
Contract executes based on predetermined formulas
Deploy new contract through governance
Theseus
Market runs as a first-class lending agent
Pricing via inference, verified with tensor-commit
Context or model swappable by creator or agent
New Primitives Enabled by Theseus
Subjective Prediction Markets
Adjudicate nuanced questions like "Was the iPhone Air launch successful?"
AI Persons
Autonomous entities with goals: GPs of LP funds, marketing swarms, DAO orchestrators
Complex Governance
Evaluate proposals with nuanced reasoning, read docs, analyze trade-offs
Dynamic DeFi Strategies
Manage liquidity, rebalance portfolios, execute strategies autonomously
Market Opportunity
Ethereum's market cap is tied to application value. More capable applications can expand value captured by the base layer.
Before Bitcoin, Hashcash introduced proof-of-work without a durable economic layer. Combining programmable settlement and autonomous agents with tensor commitments may open a materially larger design and market surface.
ChatGPT: intelligence you can query
OpenClaw: execution you can delegate
Conway: continuous autonomy you can deploy
Theseus: AI Persons with sovereign ownership and action
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Read: Agents as an Evolution of Smart Contracts