Rhythm Interview with OpenMind: From x402 Payments to Building the 'Android for Robots'

marsbitОпубліковано о 2026-01-22Востаннє оновлено о 2026-01-22

Анотація

In a 2025 interview, OpenMind founder and Stanford professor Jan Liphardt discusses his vision for building the "brain" for humanoid robots, positioning it as a potential "Android for robots." Following a $20 million funding round, OpenMind has accelerated its product roadmap, launching a suite of offerings from an underlying operating system to a payment protocol. A core of OpenMind’s strategy is enabling the emerging "Machine Economy," where robots act as independent economic agents. A key development is its partnership with Circle and the implementation of the x402 protocol, allowing robots to autonomously conduct transactions using USDC stablecoins—exemplified by robots independently paying for charging at stations in San Francisco. Beyond payments, OpenMind is creating a modular operating system (OM1) and a dedicated app store where users can download skills and applications for their robots. The company aims to address critical challenges in robotics, including value exchange, identity authentication, data privacy, and collaborative governance through its FABRIC protocol and blockchain technology, envisioning a future of seamless human-robot collaboration.

In 2025, humanoid robots are transitioning from science fiction to reality. From Tesla's Optimus to Figure AI's Figure 01, the capabilities of general-purpose humanoid robots are rapidly expanding with the support of large language models. According to Goldman Sachs predictions, the humanoid robot market could reach $154 billion by 2035. A trillion-dollar market is attracting the world's top tech companies and brightest minds to dive in.

However, as robots' "limbs" become increasingly advanced, a more core question arises: how to build an intelligent, open, and secure enough "brain"? When thousands of robots enter homes, hospitals, and cities, how will they collaborate, exchange value, and seamlessly integrate with human society?

Stanford professor and OpenMind founder Jan Liphardt provides his answer. After securing $20 million in funding led by Pantera Capital in August 2025, OpenMind hit the fast-forward button, releasing a series of products from the underlying operating system to upper-layer payment protocols, gradually outlining the complete blueprint for its "robot brain."

OpenMind's core business is providing SaaS-based cloud cognitive services to enterprises. But they keenly observed that as robots become independent economic participants, blockchain will play a crucial role in payment systems, identity authentication, data privacy, and collaborative governance.

Recently, OpenMind's collaboration with stablecoin issuer Circle and the deployment of robot charging stations on the streets of San Francisco are initial implementations of this vision. Robots can independently complete charging payments using USDC, which may mark the dawn of the "Machine Economy" era.

Simultaneously, OpenMind is building a dedicated app store for robots, allowing users to download applications and skills to their robots in one place, much like customizing phone apps on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app was launched last week on the OpenMind App Store.

In this exclusive interview, we delved into the philosophy behind building the robot "brain," the design理念 of the modular operating system OM1, and how the FABRIC protocol and blockchain technology can构建 a future where machines and humans collaborate efficiently. He shared OpenMind's technical roadmap and offered profound insights on key issues such as developer ecosystems, remote operation, and data privacy.

Below is the interview content:

Establishing a "Bank Account" for Robots

In December 2025, OpenMind and stablecoin issuer Circle jointly announced the launch of a robot autonomous payment system based on the x402 protocol. As robots' capabilities improve, they will no longer be mere tools for executing tasks but will start to act as autonomous economic entities. They will need to purchase computing power, data, skills, and even hire other robots or humans to complete complex tasks.

To achieve this, a financial system designed specifically for machines, requiring no human intervention, becomes indispensable. The traditional banking system is clearly not prepared for this, and cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, with their native digital and decentralized characteristics, have become the most natural choice.

Пов'язані питання

QWhat is the core business of OpenMind as mentioned in the article?

AOpenMind's core business is providing SaaS-based cloud cognitive services for enterprises.

QWhich company led the $20 million funding round for OpenMind in August 2025?

APantera Capital led the $20 million funding round for OpenMind in August 2025.

QWhat specific payment protocol did OpenMind collaborate with Circle to implement for robots?

AOpenMind collaborated with Circle to implement a robot autonomous payment system based on the x402 protocol.

QWhat is the name of the modular operating system that OpenMind is developing for robots?

AOpenMind is developing a modular operating system called OM1 for robots.

QWhat recent development did OpenMind announce for customizing robot capabilities, similar to smartphone app stores?

AOpenMind announced a dedicated app store for robots, allowing users to download applications and skills to their robots, similar to smartphone app stores.

Пов'язані матеріали

When Google Also 'Prints Stocks' to Build AI, Whose Narrative is Shattering the High Valuations of Neocloud?

Google has announced its first equity financing since 2005, a series of moves totaling $80 billion that signal a strategic challenge to Nvidia's GPU dominance in the AI compute market. This impacts "Neocloud" companies like CoreWeave, Nebius, and IREN, whose valuations are heavily tied to Nvidia's perceived uniqueness. Google's three-part strategy involves: launching new TPU chips (TPU 8t/8i) and selling them to third parties for the first time; forming a $25 billion compute-as-a-service joint venture with Blackstone; and raising ~$50 billion in new equity (part of an $80B package) to fund AI infrastructure, underscoring the massive capital demands even for tech giants. This marks a divergence from Microsoft's path. Microsoft, lacking a mature in-house AI chip, relies heavily on outsourcing to Neocloud providers using Nvidia GPUs. Google, with its proprietary TPU, is pursuing vertical integration—building its own data centers, selling chips, and competing directly with Neocloud services. While Neocloud firms have strong near-term revenue from locked-in Nvidia GPU contracts (e.g., CoreWeave's ~$100B backlog), Google's moves undermine their long-term valuation narrative based on Nvidia's sole supremacy and perpetual supply shortage. TPU performance claims and adoption by firms like Anthropic add credibility to Google's alternative. The AI compute market is transitioning from a uniform seller's market to a layered one: top AI labs are diversifying their hardware stacks; hyperscalers are pursuing different chip strategies; and financing costs will become a critical differentiator, favoring players like Google with lower capital costs. Key metrics to watch include the progress of the Google-Blackstone JV, expansion of the TPU customer base beyond Anthropic, and potential shifts in Microsoft's sourcing strategy. If Google succeeds on these fronts, the Neocloud investment thesis will require significant reassessment.

marsbit1 год тому

When Google Also 'Prints Stocks' to Build AI, Whose Narrative is Shattering the High Valuations of Neocloud?

marsbit1 год тому

Торгівля

Спот
Ф'ючерси
活动图片