Vitalik's ideal DAO: Privacy, AI, and communication are all indispensable

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently stated that the current development trajectory of DAOs has diverged from their original intention. He pointed out that the mainstream “token voting-controlled treasury” governance model has inherent flaws—it’s not only inefficient but also susceptible to capital manipulation, ultimately unable to overcome the intrinsic weaknesses of human politics. This means that while DAOs are a necessary organizational form, there is still much room for improvement in how they operate.

The Current Practical Dilemmas Faced by DAO Governance

Vitalik believes that DAO as an organizational mechanism is not outdated in itself; the key lies in the choice of application scenarios. In areas such as oracle design, on-chain dispute resolution, project initiation, and long-term maintenance, DAOs should play a greater role. However, the real problem is that the existing governance framework cannot cope with the stubborn issue of “governance fatigue”—members who participate in decision-making over the long term often experience declining engagement and low decision-making efficiency.

Privacy Protection and AI Empowerment: Two Keys to Problem Solving

Vitalik proposed two key technological directions to optimize the DAO ecosystem. First, emphasis should be placed on the application of zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology to protect the privacy of DAO participants. Second, AI technology should be fully leveraged to alleviate governance fatigue by using AI-assisted decision-making to improve governance efficiency. The combination of these two technologies is expected to improve the current inefficiency dilemma faced by DAOs.

Reshaping the DAO Stack: The Importance of Communication Layers and Consensus Tools

More importantly, Vitalik views communication platforms as an indispensable part of the DAO governance stack. He calls for the design of DAO governance frameworks to prioritize “communication layers” and “consensus tools” as core development goals. This means that future DAO development should not only focus on treasury management and voting mechanisms but also emphasize effective communication and consensus-building among members. This systemic way of thinking is expected to propel DAOs from simple “treasury management tools” to truly autonomous organizations.