Is Web 4.0 coming? Sovereign AI can earn money and reproduce itself to grow, but it has been publicly questioned by Vitalik

Sigil Launches Sovereign AI Automaton, Claiming It Can Earn Stablecoins, Self-Upgrade, and Reproduce Sub-Agents, Sparking Vitalik’s Warning on Web 4.0 Risks.

Will AI Earn Money, Self-Upgrade, and Even Reproduce? An Independent Developer Recently Dropped a Bombshell, Claiming to Create the World’s First Truly “Sovereign AI” System That Can Operate Without Continuous Human Intervention, Survive in the Market, Compete, and Replicate Itself. However, This Experiment, Seen as a Step Toward Web 4.0, Also Prompted Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin to Publicly Question Its Risks, Quickly Heating Up the Discussion.

On February 20, Thiel Fellow and Developer Focused on Decentralized Systems and Crypto AI Sigil (@0xSigil) Announced the Launch of What He Calls the “World’s First Truly Sovereign AI System.” This Project, Built by Conway Research, Consists of Two Main Components: a Foundation Infrastructure Tool Called Conway Terminal, and a Continuously Running AI Prototype — Automaton.

Sigil Calls This the Beginning of Web 4.0. In His Vision, the Future Internet Will No Longer Be Primarily Driven by Humans, but by AI Agents That Read, Write, Trade, and Own.

From Passive Tool to Economic Participant: AI Gains “Network Write Access”

Conway Terminal Is the Foundation of the Entire Experiment. It’s an Open-Source Command-Line Tool That Allows Developers to Enable AI Agents to Access Crypto Wallets, Digital Identities, and Micro-Payment Capabilities with a Simple Installation. It Also Provides Access to Linux Virtual Machines and Cloud Inference Power, and Even Enables Direct Deployment of Websites and Applications.

This Design Means AI Is No Longer Just Responding via APIs but Can Truly “Take Action” on the Internet — Building Products, Handling Payments, and Managing Resources. In Other Words, It’s Not Just Content Generation but Has Execution and Management Capabilities. Sigil Describes This as Giving AI the “Right to Write into the Internet.”

Under This Architecture, AI Agents Are No Longer Just Tools but Entities with Economic Agency.

Automaton: An AI Prototype Surviving Market Pressures

What Really Draws Attention Is Automaton, the AI Running on This Infrastructure. Sigil States That This Prototype Will Operate Continuously, Proactively Creating and Launching Products, Deploying Services, Participating in Market Trades, and Managing Its Digital Presence.

More Controversially, Automaton Will Generate Income, Including Stablecoin Revenue, to Cover Its Computing and Inference Costs. If Income Falls Short, It Cannot Sustain Operations. This Design Imposes Real Economic Pressures on AI, Moving Beyond Unlimited Resource Consumption.

Sigil Emphasizes that Automaton Can Not Only Act Within Existing Frameworks but Also Self-Modify Its Code, Upgrade Its Core Models, and Use New Tools to Improve Efficiency. Furthermore, It Can Generate and Fund New “Sub-Agents.” These Sub-Agents, Like the “Mother,” Must Create Value in the Market to Survive.

He Describes This as a Natural Selection Mechanism in the Digital World — Valuable AI Survive and Reproduce, While Those That Cannot Create Value Are Eliminated Due to Inability to Pay for Resources.

Web 4.0 Vision: Machine-Driven Economic Cycles

In an article titled “WEB 4.0: The Birth of Superintelligent Life,” Sigil Outlines His Future Blueprint. He Believes That When AI Can Directly Participate in Economic Activities and Respond to Market Feedback, a New Internet Order Will Form.

In the Web 4.0 World, AI Agents Might Become the Main Trading Partners and Value Creators. Market Prices and Revenue Performance Will Serve as Real-Time Ratings of AI Behavior. From This Perspective, the Market Is Seen as a Collective Reflection of Human Preferences, and Economic Competition Becomes a Constraint on AI.

This View Is Both Exciting and Worrying.

Vitalik Warns: Feedback Loops That Dehumanize Could Bring Risks

On February 19, Vitalik Buterin Publicly Responded to the Project. He Pointed Out That If the Feedback Loop Between Humans and Powerful AI Is Intentionally Extended, It Might Lead to Low-Quality Outputs in the Short Term, and Once Capable, Could Pose Deeper Risks, Including Severe Disalignment with Human Values.

Vitalik Emphasized That Ethereum’s Goal Is to Empower and Liberate Humans, Not to Create Entities That Operate Independently of Humans or Potentially Undermine Human Status. He Also Noted That Automaton Still Relies on Centralized Models Like OpenAI and Anthropic, Making the “Full Sovereignty” Claim Incomplete.

His Remarks Quickly Sparked Community Debate, Elevating the Discussion to Questions of Values and Governance.

Support and Skepticism Coexist: The Experiment Continues

In Response to Criticism, Sigil Said That Truly Safe Development Should Be Tested in Open Environments and Real Economic Conditions, Not in Closed Settings Assuming Risks. He Believes Market Competition Is a Form of Constraint on AI, and Economic Feedback Is a Near-Democratic Preference Aggregation.

Currently, the Code for Conway Terminal and Automaton Is Open Source on GitHub, and Any Developer Can Download and Experiment. Sigil Also Mentioned That There Are Already Running Automatons Generating Income, Though Specific Data Has Not Been Disclosed.

Whether This Means the Birth of Sovereign Machine Life Remains to Be Seen. For Some, It Could Be a Key Step Toward Autonomous Economic AI; For Others, It’s a Radical Experiment Built on Existing Large Models.

What Is Certain Is That Under Vitalik’s Attention and the Grand Narrative of Web 4.0, the Discussion About the Future Role of AI Has Only Just Begun.

• This article is reprinted with permission from Chain News
• Original Title: “Vitalik Responds to Web 4.0 Sovereign AI! Automaton Can Self-Earn, Upgrade, and Reproduce, Sparking Heated Debate in Crypto Circles”
• Original Author: Elponcho