Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced the launch of a new decentralized network for AI computations — Cocoon (Confidential Compute Open Network) — during the Blockchain Life 2025 forum in Dubai. The project is scheduled to go live in November 2025.
According to Durov, Cocoon will allow developers to deploy AI models on the TON blockchain without transferring data to centralized servers.
Owners of GPUs (graphics processing units) who contribute computing power to the network will receive rewards in Toncoin, TON’s native cryptocurrency. In turn, AI developers will gain access to affordable computational resources.
Before its official launch, Cocoon has already started accepting applications from GPU owners and AI developers interested in deploying their models on the network. The first major “client” and backer of Cocoon will be Telegram itself.
Durov emphasized that the project aims to defend personal freedoms threatened by governments and corporations collecting and exploiting user data to train their AI models:
“Decentralized solutions are one of the few ways to protect the freedoms that centralized powers try to undermine,” Durov said.
Initially, the network was supposed to be called Private Artificial Intelligence Network (PAIN), but later the team decided on a “better name” — Cocoon. Durov joked that while “Cocoon” is pronounced ‘kakun’ in English, Russian speakers might read it differently — and he’s “looking forward to the memes.”
