# Fireside Chat I Illia Polosukhin & Kartik Talwar I Operating System, Open Web | Pragma Waterloo 2023

- Speakers: [Illia Polosukhin](https://streameth.org/speakers/illia-polosukhin), [Kartik Talwar](https://streameth.org/speakers/kartik-talwar)
- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2023-10-09
- Duration: 45:03
- Topics: NEAR Protocol, Illia Polosukhin, Pragma Waterloo, blockchain operating system, BOS, AI and blockchain, Attention Is All You Need, LLMs, decentralized apps, cryptographic signatures, web3 scalability, sharding, account abstraction, Layer 1 vs Layer 2, onchain data, user ownership, NEAR sharding, zkML, open internet, decentralized storage, composable frontends, cross-chain apps, Ethereum compatibility, censorship resistance
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-D_gD99ZiR48
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_gD99ZiR48

## Description

Join Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol and co-author of "Attention Is All You Need," in this insightful fireside chat with Kartik Talwar at Pragma Waterloo. Illia walks us through his journey from machine learning at Google to pioneering decentralized infrastructure for the open web. He discusses the technical and philosophical foundations of NEAR, including how it was designed to solve core blockchain usability, scalability, and developer experience challenges.

Learn how NEAR’s sharding architecture, account abstraction, and Blockchain Operating System (BOS) are shaping a multi-chain future that is more accessible and developer-friendly. The conversation also explores the intersections of AI and blockchain, cryptographic authenticity, censorship resistance, and the importance of preserving user agency in the age of large-scale language models. Whether you're a developer, founder, or curious builder, this talk offers a compelling vision for a decentralized internet that is inclusive, scalable, and built to last.

00:00 Intro and welcome to Illia Polosukhin
00:38 Illia’s background in AI and Google Research
01:50 Inventing Transformers and “Attention Is All You Need”
04:10 Launching NEAR AI and challenges with global payments
06:31 Early blockchain usability challenges
08:12 Origins of NEAR Protocol
09:21 Designing for simplicity, security, and scalability
10:21 The limits of single-threaded blockchains
13:07 Tackling performance: VM, consensus, and storage
15:11 Building sharding and parallel execution
16:55 From Layer 1 to a Blockchain Operating System
18:04 What BOS enables for developers and users
21:02 Cross-chain discovery, onboarding, and frontends
23:00 Overview of a fully open-source, multi-chain future
25:02 How BOS works with Ethereum and other chains
27:06 Data storage, frontend history, and integrity
30:58 Thoughts on Layer 2s and scalability trade-offs
34:30 Blockchain and AI: data, compute, and models
37:07 Authenticity and cryptographic signatures in AI
41:16 Community governance and decentralized identity
42:49 What decentralization means to Illia
44:29 Closing remarks and BOS adoption

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🇨🇦 *Pragma Waterloo*
The now third edition of Pragma kicked off with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion among attendees as they were storming into the Auditorium of the CIGI Building.  Pragma Waterloo 2023 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Waterloo 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7i8oFx5vCB9qTdadQqAjF0&si=NS2W71SteTbEs4T8

ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. 

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✅ *Follow Illia Polosukhin*
X: https://x.com/ilblackdragon

✅ *Follow NEAR*
X: https://x.com/NEARProtocol

✅ *Follow Kartik Talwar*
X: https://x.com/therealkartik
Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik

✅ *Follow ETHGlobal*
X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​
Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal
Website: https://ethglobal.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal 

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