Sarson Funds, Inc. today published research conducted January-February 2026 identifying which industries are spending the most on private AI and which blockchain-based companies are leading the decentralized AI infrastructure space. The global private AI market is projected at $11.1 billion in 2025, growing to $113.7 billion by 2034, with 58% deployed on-premises.
The Problem: Public AI Creates Unacceptable Risk
Enterprise adoption of public LLMs has created a growing security crisis. 77% of enterprise users paste company data into ChatGPT, with 34.8% of inputs containing sensitive information. Shadow AI breaches cost organizations $670,000 more on average. Court orders require OpenAI to retain consumer conversations even after deletion, creating permanent subpoena exposure. For regulated industries, the risks are existential.
The Solution: Blockchain-Secured Private AI
Blockchain addresses these risks at the infrastructure level. Data never leaves the user’s control. The model comes to the data. Zero-knowledge proofs allow AI to process information without seeing the underlying data. Encrypted computation splits queries across nodes so no single party can reconstruct the original. Every interaction is logged on an immutable audit trail for compliance (SOX, HIPAA, GDPR), while actual content stays encrypted. With no centralized server storing conversation logs, there is no single repository to subpoena. Networks such as Manifest Network are building enterprise infrastructure around this model, enabling organizations to deploy private AI systems on verifiable sovereign compute rather than public cloud environments.
Blockchain Compute: On-Prem Security With Cloud Flexibility
Decentralized compute networks eliminate the trade-off between security and convenience. Aethir operates 440,000+ GPU containers across 94 countries, up to 86% cheaper than centralized cloud. 0G / Zero Gravity offers AI-optimized storage at $8–9/TB/month. Venice AI provides OpenAI API compatibility with zero data storage. These networks convert CapEx into OpEx, offer elastic scalability and eliminate vendor lock-in.
The convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology represents one of the most significant infrastructure shifts of the decade. As enterprises move from experimentation to production-scale AI, the demand for privacy-preserving, decentralized compute will accelerate. Sarson Funds will continue to track this space and publish updated research as the market evolves.
Disclosure: Sarson Funds and its affiliates may hold investments in digital assets or companies referenced in this material, including projects discussed in this report. This material is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset.
