USDT issuer Tether is launching a developer grants program to fund local-first AI, wallet and payments tools, the company announced in today's blog post.
Tether says developers can now apply for active tasks tied to specific technical deliverables. Grants will be paid in the USDT stablecoin or Bitcoin, with current individual payouts ranging from about $1,500 to $4,000.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
Currently, many AI tools depend on cloud servers. User data is sent away from the device for processing, which can add cost, latency and privacy risk.
Tether is doubling down on a different approach through QVAC, its own on-device AI platform. With QVAC, AI inference runs locally and doesn't depend on outside providers.
Per the blog post, developers need to apply for specific open tasks rather than general funding. The work can include building software libraries, writing technical documentation, creating apps on Tether's stack, researching local AI and peer-to-peer systems, or adding integrations and open standards.
The program follows Tether's earlier support for open-source and Bitcoin projects, including $100,000 grants to BTCPay Server Foundation, a non-profit behind the Bitcoin payment processor BTCPay Server, a $250,000 donation to OpenSats, a non-profit that funds Bitcoin and open-source developers, and student education grants through PlanB, Tether's Bitcoin education initiative with the City of Lugano.