The post Telegram Launches Cocoon: A Decentralized AI Network That Pays GPU Owners com. In brief Telegram launched Cocoon, a decentralized AI compute network on TON that pays GPU owners in crypto for powering private AI tasks. Telegram will use Cocoon internally, integrating it into Mini Apps and AI tools for its billion-plus users. The project challenges Big Tech’s dominance, positioning TON as an open, user-controlled alternative to AWS and Azure. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov took to the stage at Blockchain Life 2025 in Dubai on Wednesday to announce Cocoon, a decentralized AI compute network built on The Open Network (TON) blockchain that will pay GPU owners in Toncoin for powering private AI inference. The network, formally called the Confidential Compute Open Network, will launch in November with Telegram as its first major customer. Applications for GPU providers and developers opened immediately following the announcement. Cocoon creates a marketplace where individuals contribute computing power through their graphics processing units and receive TON cryptocurrency in exchange. On the other side, developers gain access to low-cost AI infrastructure that processes queries without exposing user data to centralized providers. This decentralized AI infrastructure is billed as a rival against the monopoly that Big Tech corporations like Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft Azure have. In fact, Durov positioned the project as a response to eroding digital freedoms. Both Telegram and the TON blockchain were also conceived with this privacy-first approach in mind. The timing aligns with growing concerns about centralized AI systems. When companies like OpenAI or Google process your queries, they see everything-your prompts, your data, your patterns, and metadata. Cocoon’s confidential computing approach keeps that information encrypted throughout the process, even from the GPU owners doing the actual computation. Telegram’s globally adopted platform provides immediate scale. The messaging app will integrate Cocoon across its ecosystem, powering AI features in its Mini Apps and potentially transforming how users.