Intercognitive
Analysis | Diagrams | Innovators
The Intercognitive Foundation aims to create interoperable standards for AI, enabling seamless collaboration across decentralized systems and addressing scalability issues in AI-driven networks.
Purpose
Physical AI involves real-world applications like autonomous drones and robots, raising privacy concerns highlighted by Elon Musk on the Lex Fridman podcast, where he envisioned billions of Optimus robots collecting daily life data.
The Intercognitive Foundation, launched in early 2025, represents a significant development in the DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) and emerging DePAI (Decentralized Physical Artificial Intelligence) ecosystem. This collaborative standards body aims to establish a framework enabling interoperability between physical AI systems, creating a foundation for machines to effectively perceive and interact with the real world.
Foundation
The Foundation was established by four key organizations, each bringing specialized expertise to the collective:
- Auki Network: Developer of the "posemesh," a decentralized machine perception network and collaborative spatial computing protocol. Their technology enables digital devices to securely exchange spatial data, forming a shared understanding of the physical world.
- GEODNET: Creator of the world's largest RTK (Real-Time Kinematics) network, providing up to 100x more accurate positioning than standalone GPS systems. With over 12,000 base stations globally, GEODNET delivers precise, real-time 3D localization for AI-powered autonomous systems.
- Mawari: A DePIN focused on delivering real-time 3D data for augmented reality, virtual reality, and spatial computing applications.
- Peaq: A Web3 network powering the Economy of Things on Polkadot, providing the blockchain infrastructure layer for DePIN applications. In March 2025, peaq introduced Universal Machine Time (UMT), the first-ever onchain implementation of the Precision Time Protocol, as their initial contribution to Intercognitive.
Broader DePIN Ecosystem
- Helium
- Hivemapper
- NATIX Network
Architecture
Components
The Foundation is developing a comprehensive standard framework built around nine key pillars:
- Identity: Self-sovereign passports for connected machines
- Fees: Peer-to-peer transaction systems for machines and people
- Maps: Decentralized navigation data and protocols
- Sensors: Standardized sensor data enabling machines to perceive the real world
- Positioning: Location data enabling smooth machine interactions
- Compute: Decentralized backbone of AI
- Connectivity: Links connecting smart robots with networks
- Orchestration: Interoperability standards and protocols
- Standards: Rules enabling smooth machine and dApp interactions
Purpose
The Intercognitive Foundation represents a significant shift in how physical AI systems might develop - moving away from centralized control by large corporations toward open, interoperable standards that enable collaboration while preserving privacy and user sovereignty.
As demonstrated by projects like GEODNET, which built the world's largest RTK network in under two years using token incentives, the DePIN model can rapidly scale physical infrastructure in ways traditional centralized approaches cannot match.
The Foundation's work could be particularly transformative for autonomous vehicles, robotics, smart cities, and other applications where machines need to perceive and interact with the physical world in real-time.
Progress
The most significant recent contribution to the Intercognitive standards is peaq's Universal Machine Time (UMT), introduced in March 2025. UMT provides blockchain-verified timestamps with nanosecond precision, critical for applications requiring ultra-precise timing like autonomous vehicles, robotics, and sensor networks.
As Mike Horton, GEODNET's creator, noted: "You can't understand space without first understanding time. In fact, careful time calibration is how positioning technologies like GPS work in the first place."