2 questions:
Is this a joke?
If not, why?
No joke.
XAI is really a lot more than "just" an "AI coin". Sapience AIFX is intended to be a complete next-gen advanced blockchain platform, but deeply rooted in the Bitcoin protocol, building on top of and making full use of the capabilities that already exist in the Bitcoin protocol but that, to date, have been largely underutilized by alt-coins. Why reinvent the wheel to produce so-called "Bitcoin 2.0" platforms when there is so much yet to be realized within the existing well-defined protocol specification. So, to me, maybe this is "Bitcoin 3.0" concept, revisiting the roots...I dunno.
Next up on the roadmap is completion of the AI Core. This leverages the Plume data store solution to provide a scriptable AI lib with an in-wallet script editor and interactive shell. Most likely this shell is going to be swapped from Python to Lua for a couple of reasons:
1. Easier cross-platform compilation and integration
2. Lua has already gained a lot of traction in the game world for scriptable game AI
3. Its a lot more lightweight and therefore more resource friendly for devices like Raspberry Pi and Android
We have our own asset platform in the works, based on Counterparty but fully integrated in-wallet requiring no external daemon etc. Our intention is to deliver a high quality user experience and make this really accessible to pull in folks from the regular investing world, decentralized with no dependency on web wallets etc. Initially we will probably roll out an in-between solution.
Once the asset platform is up we are planning to do an issue of "xainodes" tokens that will be something akin to Bitshares AGS and operate as a DAC/DAO on the XAI blockchain, and possibly a vehicle to provide dev funding through the rest of this year.
XaiNet - We have already demo'd a PoC of IBTP in action. This is our cross-blockchain communication solution that is really out-of-the-box Bitcoin P2P. I simply dropped in the IBTP class and added an addnode in Litecoin and Shadow config files to connect them to my XAI node. This allows us to send cross-coin-network messages directly between peers using the existing messaging structure in the Bitcoin protocol, but is smart enough so that peers from "foreign" networks don't try to exchange block inventory with each other etc. This capability will allow us to hook both the scriptable AI engine and the asset platform in to every other coin network and allow us to then do interesting things with data from those networks and share services between them.
Our NextGen wallet is a complete Qt front-end wallet rewrite to provide a user experience that is more "with the times" and consistent across devices and platforms with flickable touch interfaces, etc. This is really the key in our minds to gaining traction with a larger audience in the mass market.
As part of the NextGen wallet rewrite we are going to enable an NFC payments experience for users, for a simpler alternative to QR codes.
The #LunarNode project is a real endeavor on the long range roadmap. It's the stretch goal / dream big goal for our project overall. As a first step we would like to launch a XaiSat into low earth orbit. These micro satellites are now widely available although they tend to have a short lifespan in space, but the standardization of the form factor since the late 90's has brought the cost down considerably. There are a couple of engineering challenges we will need to solve around optimized synchronization/communication and equipment power, optimizing the code base for running on a low power device with lower power consumption. There are a couple of interesting inspiring projects like the LunarSail project that are looking at alternatives for transit to the lunar area, as well as a faster delivery vehicle in development. LunarSail is projecting something like a 3 year transit time to the moon, but there are a few other projects that we might be able to pull tech from and combine them to produce a faster transit time. There's a project right now looking at using pressurized water. So as a second step we would like to shoot for getting to lunar orbit, and then attempt de-orbit and a landing on the surface. Our idea is perhaps a bit less ambitious than the Doge lunar race in that we aren't looking to transport and produce a mobile rover. We simply want to deploy a functioning self-powered node on the surface, which we are thinking will entail something in the CubeSat form factor that can then "unfold" itself on the surface to provide more exposed solar panel surface area, etc.