Livepeer Inc in the Age of the Livepeer Foundation
Livepeer was founded on the belief that a decentralized network could power the future of video infrastructure at internet scale. That vision is now more relevant than ever—with the rise of realtime AI video workloads, we’re entering a pivotal moment for the protocol, its ecosystem, and its community.
As the network matures, so does its structure. The emergence of the Livepeer Foundation marks an exciting new phase: one where the network is increasingly community-led, supported by many aligned contributors, and coordinated through shared infrastructure.
But let’s be clear from the start: Livepeer Inc is not going anywhere. It remains fully committed to the mission of ensuring Livepeer becomes the world’s open video infrastructure. The team is focused, funded, and running hard at the next major milestone: unlocking product-market fit for the network as the leading infrastructure for realtime AI video.
Why This Phase Matters
The opportunity in front of us is massive. Video is evolving—fast. The explosion of AI video generation and manipulation is creating entirely new classes of applications that need powerful, cost-effective, programmable video infrastructure. Livepeer is uniquely positioned to serve this need.
But to win, we must prove product-market fit (PMF). That means showing that builders want to use the Livepeer network to power their AI video applications—because it’s the best, most open, and most cost-efficient option.
This is the core focus of Livepeer Inc today. The team is executing with urgency against its own thesis for how to get there - showcasing the power of realtime AI video through the Daydream application, and growing a community of AI video workflow developers to bring new experiences to this growing audience, ultimately inspiring many builders to want to use Livepeer infrastructure to run these capabilities in their own apps at scale. But proving PMF is a full-time job—and trying to simultaneously support broader community experiments, developer engagement, and protocol-wide coordination is sometimes challenging to prioritize and coordinate alongside the PMF search.
What the Foundation Unlocks
Enter the Livepeer Foundation, a neutral and community-governed steward of the protocol. Its role is not to replace Livepeer Inc, but to complement and extend it. The Foundation enables:
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Broader participation. Community builders and teams can plug in, run experiments, and contribute in ways that compound the network’s value.
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Sustainable coordination. The Foundation can steward protocol upgrades, fund public goods, and convene the ecosystem.
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Parallel progress. While Inc pursues its focused PMF thesis, others can run additional demand gen and development efforts, with the Foundation supporting and integrating them.
In short: the Foundation makes it easier for more contributors to help move the network forward, without slowing down Inc’s focused execution.
What Inc Unlocks
At the same time, Livepeer Inc’s work is critical to the ecosystem’s success. By building products that generate real demand for the network, Inc provides:
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Proof of utility. If Inc succeeds, it’s a validation of the network’s core value proposition.
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Inspiration and clarity. Others can follow and build on what works.
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Compounding network effects. More demand → more usage → more infrastructure → more contributors.
The relationship is symbiotic. The Foundation helps expand the surface area for experimentation and contribution. Livepeer Inc drives focused growth and network utility.
Looking Ahead
If this phase goes well—if the network nails product-market fit for AI video—we enter a new era. One where multiple independent teams build on Livepeer. One where the protocol becomes a critical standard in the AI infrastructure stack. One where Livepeer powers 90% of the realtime AI video workflows on the planet.
That’s the future we’re building. And with a clear Foundation, a focused Inc, and a growing community, we have the right ingredients to make it real.
Let’s do it.
