Solana’s new AI venture struggles to lift SOL out of its woes

• Through the launch, Solana became the first L1 blockchain to adopt AI.
• The launch failed to uplift SOL as it continued its losing streak.

The Solana [SOL] Foundation announced the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the Solana network via a newly launched ChatGPT plugin, marking a watershed moment in the confluence of AI and blockchain technology.

Through the launch, Solana became the first layer-1 (L1) blockchain to adopt AI, as per details given in a press release on 23 May.

However, the news of the innovative synergy failed to lift up the native token SOL, which dropped 2.39% in the 24-hour period to $19.40, as per CoinMarketCap data.

A paradigm shift

The new ChatGPT plugin, which was teased in late April, will let users interact with the Solana network directly using the AI Chatbot. It can be used to purchase NFTs, transfer tokens, analyze transactions, interpret public account data, and search NFT collections based on the floor price. The plugin was available for download from GitHub, Solana Foundation added.

Solana co-founder CEO Anatoly Anatoly Yakovenko hailed the launch and said that the merge will open new doors of opportunities for Solana.

“AI will make Solana more usable and understandable. Crypto APIs are way better than the APIs that deal with money from finance-focused centralized service providers because they are trustless and don’t deal with the same issues that centralized providers have to deal with.”

In addition to this, the foundation announced an increase in funding for its AI-focused grants program from the previously announced $1 million to $10 million. The grants program is designed to encourage developers to unlock new possibilities of Solana blockchain and AI convergence.

Solana leads in network activity

Solana remained the busiest blockchain in the ecosystem at the time of publication, processing more than 21 million transactions in the last 24 hours, per data by Artemis.

In this way, Solana stood head and shoulders above the other major networks, with the second-best Tron [TRX] reporting less than half of the total transactions done on Solana.

SOL’s losing streak continues

SOL was firmly in bears’ clutches, incurring weekly and monthly losses of 5.66% and 10.26% respectively. The prolonged downtrend dented investors’ confidence in the token. The weighted sentiment trended in the negative region barring the spike in the 13 May-15 May period.

The bearish momentum affected SOL’s demand in the futures market as the number of positions geared towards price decline increased, as per data from Coinglass. The Longs/Shorts Ratio dropped below one at the time of writing.