ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees launches generative AI platform Venice

Erik Voorhees, prominent crypto figure and former CEO of the crypto exchange ShapeShift, launched a privacy-focused artificial intelligence platform called Venice. 

Venice offers services such as generative conversation and image creation,  but it does not hold user data. Additionally, Venice aims to omit any form of censorship on the platform. Voorhees serves as the firm's CEO, and Teana Baker-Taylor, former vice president at the stablecoin issuer Circle, took on the COO position. 

Voorhees is the sole investor in the company, telling The Block that Venice has no need for external funding. The company currently employs six people. 

Voorhees notes that while privacy and user-sovereignty undergirds Venice, it is not a crypto app. However, the platform uses blockchain for permissionless payment, in addition to web3 infrastructure for local browser storage and end-to-end encryption. "Venice will utilize the Morpheus decentralized AI network as it launches, and already anyone holding a MOR token enjoys access to a free Pro account," Voorhees addded. 

Baker-Taylor previously served as Circle's vice president of policy and regulatory strategy for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from May 2022 to February 2024. She was also the UK Director of the crypto exchange Binance, General Manager UK of the exchange Crypto.com, among other positions. 

"I believe privacy is a human right under threat — not just by governments but also by commercial models that leverage our data for their own gain," Baker-Taylor told The Block. "Policymakers oversee how we spend our money. Our thoughts and expression of our ideas should not, cannot, be the next thing governments govern or companies monetize. At Venice we respect our users and have no desire to spy on them, create a honeypot store of their data or ideas or sell their data to third parties."