Space and Time, a blockchain data project backed by Microsoft’s venture fund, has released an enterprise platform that aims to let companies use private records in AI workflows without exposing the underlying data. The company announced the product on Monday.
The platform, called Space and Time Enterprise, is designed to prove that calculations performed on private data were done correctly. That lets AI applications, auditors and other parties check results without direct access to the database itself. Launch partners include Maple Finance, Indomobil, Trenez and The Data Foundation.
Why businesses want proof without access
Nate Holiday, CEO of MakeInfinite Labs, the original developer of Space and Time, said businesses want AI agents to run workflows using their information. But those agents do not need unrestricted access to every record behind a calculation. He argued that giving AI tools open access to data creates another exposure point.
Holiday said customers in construction, engineering and manufacturing want AI agents, reporting tools and compliance teams to work from the same records and verify calculations.
Proof of SQL and the SXT token
The platform runs on Proof of SQL, Space and Time’s patented method for proving that database queries were computed correctly. It already works with Google Cloud’s BigQuery. Companies can now run it on their own servers without operating a blockchain, buying special hardware or using an outside proving service, according to the company.
With GPU acceleration, supported queries over millions of rows can be run and proven in under a second, Holiday said. Actual performance will depend on the query, hardware and dataset.
The technology can show that a calculation was carried out correctly on a given set of records. It cannot confirm whether those records were accurate in the first place. Holiday said an incorrect entry still needs to be caught by a business’s data controls. Verification, in his view, gives those controls a stronger base by showing which data was used and whether it was processed correctly.
Funding, tokens and other work
Space and Time raised $20 million in 2022 in a round led by M12, Microsoft’s venture fund. Last year, Grayscale launched a trust giving investors exposure to SXT, the token that powers Space and Time’s blockchain. Earlier this year, the company launched Dreamspace, an AI tool built with Microsoft’s Azure AI services that lets users create and deploy onchain apps without writing code.
Space and Time also runs SXT Chain, a decentralized network that supplies verifiable data to DeFi, tokenized assets and stablecoins. Holiday said businesses can deploy the product in their own environment. The network would come into play as their applications need to connect to onchain markets, with those workloads paid for through Space and Time.
Microsoft’s Nova project uses Blitzar, Space and Time’s cryptographic acceleration library, and the team’s Dory work contributed to a16z crypto’s Jolt proof system, Holiday said.
