Which agent platforms are actually decentralised
The AI agent sector sells autonomy, but the infrastructure underneath splits sharply. Some platforms run agents client-side, with no central server to fail. Others route every decision through their own hosted inference. This week we scored the six agent projects we track on one dimension: who actually runs the infrastructure.
What shipped this week
Virtuals Protocol, EconomyOS launched, giving onchain AI agents managed email inboxes, non-custodial wallets, and virtual Visa cards for autonomous commerce. Crypto Briefing, 16 May 2026
NEAR, Universal Send brought confidential cross-chain payments to near.com: pay anyone in any asset across supported chains without exposing wallet activity. Invezz, 29 May 2026
NEAR AI, the Government of Bermuda signed on for a prototype assistant that processes citizen data inside hardware-enforced enclaves, the first named NEAR AI customer. The Royal Gazette, 14 May 2026
This week’s scorecard: who runs the agents
We scored the six agent-sector projects on Infrastructure decentralisation, the Freedom dimension that asks who runs the nodes, who controls the hardware, and whether anyone can participate. A high score means no single point of failure. A low score means the token is bolted onto centralised infrastructure. Scores are out of 20, ranked most decentralised to least.
AntSeed, 14/20 (broadly distributed): client-side execution, no central inference dependency.
Olas, 12/20 (permissionless, some vectors): permissionless nodes, but a Gnosis Safe multisig controls key contracts.
Warden, 10/20 (permissionless, some vectors): distributed validators, centrally operated key management.
Fetch.ai / ASI, 9/20 (permissionless, some vectors): permissionless agents, foundation-controlled flagship services.
ElizaOS, 6/20 (foundation-controlled): open-source framework, production agents lean on centralised APIs.
Virtuals, 5/20 (foundation-controlled): GAME inference runs on Virtuals-hosted servers.
The band in brackets rates this single dimension, not each project’s overall Freedom grade.
The spread runs nearly the full range, from AntSeed at 14 to Virtuals at 5, and it tracks one architectural choice. AntSeed and Olas run agents client-side or across permissionless networks, so no central server has to stay up for an agent to work. AntSeed’s 14 is the highest Infrastructure score among the six agent projects we track, though compute-DePIN networks outside the sector score higher still (Flux at 16, Morpheus at 15).
At the other end, ElizaOS and Virtuals score 5 to 6 because their core value, the inference and decision-making, depends on team-operated infrastructure. ElizaOS ships an open-source framework, but production agents still call whatever API the founder’s keys point at. Virtuals runs GAME Cloud as a hosted service. If those endpoints change terms or go down, the agents stop.
This is the gap the EconomyOS launch does not close. Giving agents inboxes, wallets, and Visa cards extends what a Virtuals agent can do, but every one of those actions still routes through Virtuals-hosted inference. More capability, same single point of control.
No Infrastructure score moved in May. No project in the sector shipped a node-permissioning upgrade or an infrastructure migration. The decentralisation posture is static, which is worth saying plainly: a busy week of product launches changed what these agents can do, not who controls them.
On the watchlist
Virtuals inference path. EconomyOS raises the stakes on GAME Cloud centralisation. A permissionless inference option would be the single change that moves the 5/20.
ElizaOS production defaults. The framework is open; the deployments are not. Any shift toward self-hosted or attested inference in the default path would lift the 6/20.
NEAR Universal Send adoption. NEAR reports that close to half of near.com swap volume now routes through the confidential path. An independent audit of that figure would turn a NEAR-reported claim into a verified one.
From the site
NEAR page refreshed: the Bermuda NEAR AI pilot, Universal Send, and the June upgrade 2.13 (dynamic resharding plus post-quantum signing) are now in the NEAR review, with the scoring rationale for why none of it moves the grade yet
New tokenomics deep-dive: How Morpheus Builder Subnets Work, how the builder-versus-compute split reshapes the emission flow
The OYM podcast is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the major directories under “Own Your Mind”
Cheers,
Bobski
Own Your Mind. Independent research on decentralised AI. No sponsors.
ownyourmind.ai · @ownyourmindai · @0xbobski
Disclosure: OYM holds NEAR and VIRTUAL.