A step forward that could influence how smart contracts are designed and verified.
Updated
January 8, 2026 6:32 PM

ChainGPT's robot mascot. IMAGE: CHAINGPT
A new collaboration between ChainGPT, an AI company specialising in blockchain development tools and Secret Network, a privacy-focused blockchain platform, is redefining how developers can safely build smart contracts with artificial intelligence. Together, they’ve achieved a major industry first: an AI model trained exclusively to write and audit Solidity code is now running inside a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). For the blockchain ecosystem, this marks a turning point in how AI, privacy and on-chain development can work together.
For years, smart-contract developers have faced a trade-off. AI assistants could speed up coding and security reviews, but only if developers uploaded their most sensitive source code to external servers. That meant exposing intellectual property, confidential logic and even potential vulnerabilities. In an industry where trust is everything, this risk held many teams back from using AI at all.
ChainGPT’s Solidity-LLM aims to solve that problem. It is a specialised large language model trained on over 650,000 curated Solidity contracts, giving it a deep understanding of how real smart contracts are structured, optimised and secured. And now, by running inside SecretVM, the Confidential Virtual Machine that powers Secret Network’s encrypted compute layer, the model can assist developers without ever revealing their code to outside parties.
“Confidential computing is no longer an abstract concept,” said Luke Bowman, COO of the Secret Network Foundation. “We've shown that you can run a complex AI model, purpose-built for Solidity, inside a fully encrypted environment and that every inference can be verified on-chain. This is a real milestone for both privacy and decentralised infrastructure”.
SecretVM makes this workflow possible by using hardware-backed encryption to protect all data while computations take place. Developers don’t interact with the underlying hardware or cryptography. Instead, they simply work inside a private, sealed environment where their code stays invisible to everyone except them—even node operators. For the first time, developers can generate, test and analyse smart contracts with AI while keeping every detail confidential.
This shift opens new possibilities for the broader blockchain community. Developers gain a private coding partner that can streamline contract logic or catch vulnerabilities without risking leaks. Auditors can rely on AI-assisted analysis while keeping sensitive audit material protected. Enterprises working in finance, healthcare or governance finally have a path to adopt AI-driven blockchain automation without raising compliance concerns. Even decentralised organisations can run smart-contract agents that make decisions privately, without exposing internal logic on a public chain.
The system also supports secure model training and fine-tuning on encrypted datasets. This enables collaborative AI development without forcing anyone to share raw data—a meaningful step toward decentralised and privacy-preserving AI at scale.
By combining specialised AI with confidential computing, ChainGPT and Secret Network are shifting the trust model of on-chain development. Instead of relying on centralised cloud AI services, developers now have a verifiable, encrypted environment where they keep full control of their code, their data and their workflow. It’s a practical solution to one of blockchain’s biggest challenges: using powerful AI tools without sacrificing privacy.
As the technology evolves, the roadmap includes confidential model fine-tuning, multi-agent AI systems and cross-chain use cases. But the core advancement is already clear: developers now have a way to use AI for smart contract development that is fast, private and verifiable—without compromising the security standards that decentralised systems rely on.
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Amid AI and tech startups, Eastseabrother proved the power of demand and trust.
Updated
January 9, 2026 10:34 AM

Cats having a jolly good time with a can of tuna. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
At a Silicon Valley pitch event crowded with AI, SaaS and deep-tech startups, the company that stood out was not selling software or algorithms. It was selling pet treats.
Eastseabrother, a premium pet food brand from South Korea, ranked first at a Plug and Play–hosted investor pitch competition in Sunnyvale. The product itself is simple: single-ingredient pet treats made from wild-caught seafood sourced from Korea’s East Sea. The company follows a principle it calls “Only What the Sea Allows”, working directly with regional fishermen while avoiding overfishing. With no additives and minimal processing, what sets Eastseabrother apart is not novelty, but control—over sourcing, supply chains and consistency.
That clarity helped the company walk away with both Best Product and Best Potential. “Investors asked detailed questions about repeat purchase rates and customer feedback, not just our technology or supply chain”, said Eunyul Kim, CEO of Eastseabrother. “That told us the market is shifting—real consumer trust now carries as much weight as a compelling tech narrative”.
What truly caught investors’ attention was not an ambitious vision of the future, but concrete evidence of traction today. Eastseabrother has already secured shelf space in specialty pet stores across California, New York and North Carolina, including an exclusive partnership with EarthWise Pet, a national specialty retail chain. At a consumer showcase at San Francisco’s Ferry Building, the brand recorded the highest on-site sales among all participating companies.
At its core, the pitch was built on simplicity: one ingredient, clear sourcing and a defined customer need. In a market saturated with complex products and abstract claims, that focus and transparency stood out.
The judges’ decision also reflects a broader shift in venture capital thinking. Not every successful startup is built on complex software or high-tech innovation. In categories like pet care—where trust, quality and transparency shape buying behavior—execution and credibility can matter more than technical sophistication.
Today, Eastseabrother has extended its reach beyond the U.S., expanding into Singapore and Hong Kong, with additional plans to grow further in North America as demand for premium pet food rises. And the broader takeaway from this pitch is not that consumer brands are overtaking tech startups. It is that investors are increasingly focused on fundamentals: who is buying, why they are returning and whether the business can sustain itself beyond the pitch deck.