ai thinker — Freedom24 recently brought global AI thinker Daniil Liberman to Cyprus for a compelling fireside chat at their Limassol offices, highlighting the island’s growing role in discussions about artificial intelligence and technological innovation.
Photo: cyprus-mail.com
The event featured Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov alongside Liberman, placing Cyprus at the forefront of a global dialogue centred on AI, decentralisation, and computing power. As nations, technology companies, and investors increasingly grapple with control over the infrastructure that fuels modern AI, Freedom24’s initiative underscores the significance of Cyprus in these debates.
Liberman, whose background is steeped in science and technology, shared insights shaped by his upbringing in a research-oriented family. He recounted early projects that interwove advanced computing with biology and genetics, which ignited his enduring interest in complex systems.
The discussion took an interesting turn as Liberman reflected on his involvement in media and technology initiatives during the Medvedev presidency in Russia. He noted that many of these projects faced closure under stricter political controls, prompting his move to the United States. There, his work expanded into the entertainment industry, where he developed software capable of transforming a screenplay into a finished digital product within a week.
Throughout his career, Liberman has collaborated with notable figures in Hollywood, including Robert Downey Jr. and creative teams from The Simpsons, although he refrained from detailing specific relationships to maintain clarity. His journey eventually led him to Silicon Valley, where he played a key role in founding and scaling multiple tech businesses, one of which was later acquired by Snapchat.
In his discourse, Liberman also highlighted projects in Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine, but emphasised a broader narrative of regional innovation rather than individual commercial achievements. He described a significant shift in focus from software and platforms to large language models and AI infrastructure.
A major theme of the conversation revolved around Nvidia’s dominance in AI computing. Liberman pointed out that approximately 90 per cent of advanced AI chips are currently procured by American firms, framing access to computing power as a pressing geopolitical issue dominated by US and Chinese companies.
Liberman referenced public comments from US politicians, including JD Vance, that reflect increasing political pressure on Europe to clarify its position on AI development and regulation. He also examined Chinese AI initiatives like DeepSeek, cautioning that claims of low development costs may not accurately represent the full scale of investment involved.
The chat then transitioned to the structure of the global cloud computing market, which Liberman characterised as increasingly centralised among a select few dominant providers. He drew parallels to past operating system developments, citing open-source models such as Linux.
Although he critiqued certain applications of decentralised finance, particularly Bitcoin mining for its high energy consumption, Liberman contextualised this by comparing Bitcoin’s energy usage to that of a city with roughly one million residents, while acknowledging advancements in computational efficiency over time.
The discussion culminated with Liberman introducing his current venture, Gonka, which focuses on decentralised AI computing infrastructure. Co-founded with his brother David, Gonka aims to create a community-governed network that allows participants to contribute and exchange computing power, thereby reducing reliance on major cloud providers.
According to a Forbes article from 2025, the Libermans argue that AI compute has emerged as a significant bottleneck in innovation, with Nvidia controlling about 94 per cent of the global GPU market. They see decentralised computing as a promising path to making AI more affordable and accessible, with Gonka designed to avoid governance structures that could lead to power centralisation.
Liberman’s visit to Cyprus brought these pressing global discussions to a local audience, providing a rare opportunity for insights typically reserved for major technology hubs. For Freedom24, hosting this fireside chat not only reinforced its role as a conduit between Cyprus and the broader technology discourse but also showcased the island as a fertile ground for emerging financial and technological ideas.
