Tether’s Ardoino hints at challenging Microsoft and Amazon in AI sector

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino hinted that it could challenge tech giants by investing in decentralized artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces.

Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin issuer by market cap, appears to be looking to seize the opportunity in the AI ​​race by investing in decentralized technologies and brain-computer interfaces to challenge the dominance of major tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon.

In a recent interview with WIRED, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino discussed the firm’s evolving strategy, which now includes a major push into venture capital. Ardoino explained that Tether’s significant profits, which have run into the billions of dollars over the past two years due to rising interest rates, have led the firm to explore new investment opportunities.

“Over the last 24 months, Tether has made about $11.9 billion in profit. With that amount of money, we could have just distributed it all to shareholders to keep everyone happy. Instead, some of it is being added to reserves to further support the stablecoin, and the rest is basically being held in the investment arm.”

Paolo Ardoino

Ardoino emphasized that Tether’s venture capital efforts are driven by principles beyond traditional financial metrics and are driven by the “spirit of decentralization” and financial freedom that initially defined Bitcoin. He also suggested that decentralization could offer significant independence in AI, which he described as “heavily politicized.”

“We are already seeing how AI is being heavily politicized. We believe that having a player that is independent of the classic players like Amazon, Microsoft and Google will be very, very important.”

Paolo Ardoino

Tether plans to remain limited to cryptocurrencies only

Ardoino said that Tether’s venture investments will not follow a traditional venture capital model of seeking high-risk, high-reward opportunities, adding that the firm is more focused on projects that align with its vision of interdependence. He also emphasized that more than 90% of Tether’s profits will be reinvested in initiatives that align with those values, rather than distributed as “dividends.”

In March, Tether announced a new AI division, which Ardoino said would focus on “developing open-source AI models and collaborating with other companies to integrate them into products that can address real-world challenges.” The initiative is part of a broader strategy that began with Tether’s 2023 investment in Northern Data, a German public company that is expanding from crypto mining to providing computational resources for AI-powered data analysis.

Responding to potential concerns about investment risks, Ardoino noted that Tether’s investment approach involves rigorous due diligence, underscoring the firm’s commitment not only to investing but also to actively supporting and, when necessary, managing the companies it supports.