Exploit Summit

Bittensor's Native Conference.
September 28-29, 2026.
New City Gas, Montreal, Canada.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

Exploit Summit: Live from Montreal Day 2 https://t.co/IxnDyo0UJn

[Pioτr_Barbachowski @pbarbachowski]

You spend four years heads down building something and you lose any sense of what it looks like from outside.

@ExploitSummit was the first time I got to find out.

First conference built entirely around Bittensor, and it filled up.

That tells you how much the ecosystem has grown. It also means no intro every time you meet someone. You go straight to the real conversation.

We were on the agenda both days, our hoodies were walking the corridors, and @SomaSubnet kept coming up in conversations. We have never been that visible anywhere.

Then someone I'd never met asked where he could buy our merch and I had to tell him we'd run out. For about an hour I was convinced it was the fastest growing part of the business.

I spoke on day one. 18 minutes on what running miners and then operating your own subnets actually teaches you about incentive mechanisms.

Halfway through I put up a photo of the basement we started in.

We mined our first TAO in that room four years earlier, to the day.

The next morning @hux_dendrite and @hunter_tensor ran a workshop on getting started as a miner. A few people skipped school to show up.

Real credit to @admiralagrippa , @SiliconJoseand the whole @exploitsummit team.

This community needed an event of its own more than I think anyone realised.

Full talk here: https://t.co/IVXMaw62Vm

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

@provenonce_ai Congrats! It was amazing to hear you present on the whitepaper at Exploit 🔥

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

'It felt like a Bitcoin conference in 2013.' - @willobrien, co-founder of @BitGo and CEO of @provenonce_ai

Give your feedback so we can build it even better next year: https://t.co/ygf0iEi8Fx

[Openτensor Foundaτion @opentensor]

https://t.co/EJqkv9vKJK

[Matt Karas @the_mattyk]

Had an awesome time last week representing @TargonCompute in Montreal for @ExploitSummit!

I always leave any conference with Bittensor folks feeling even more bullish, the energy that this community has is contagious.

Great seeing old friends and making some new ones, future is bright!

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

That Exploit edge... @carbonphysicsai soars to the top 5 after its live launch in Montreal last week 🚀

[macrozack (τ, τ) 🚀 @macrozack]

One week ago, I introduced @carbonphysicsai on stage @ExploitSummit - who we placed in SN116, now ranking as a top 5 subnet by price on Bittensor.

One year ago, I launched @bitstarterAI - promising building a community-backed incubator capable of powering teams to the top.

Nine launches later, we're finally getting there.

Thanks to everyone who pitched, pledged, and judged (whether on-stage or otherwise) - none of this would have happened without you.

[Subnet Summer @SubnetSummerTAO]

Subnet Summer Validator | Building Bittensor's First Democratised, Honest Validator

@SubnetSummerT (Subnet Summer) and @iamtheloraxnow (Medulla Labs) sit down to talk about they we teamed up to build the first democratised, honest validator on Bittensor.

They cover:

🔹 Why validation on Bittensor needs a new approach
🔹 How the Subnet Summer × Medulla Labs partnership came together
🔹 What "democratised" and "honest" validation actually mean in practice
🔹 Where Bittensor validation is heading next

If you stake, build, or just follow Bittensor, this is the future of validation, and it's worth understanding now.

Your Stake, Your Decision

https://t.co/xqICnuy52Y

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

At the booths, on stage and in conversation. More moments with the teams who supported Exploit Summit.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

Thank you to the teams who backed Exploit Summit in Montreal.

Your support helped bring the people building Bittensor into the same room, with space to show their work and debate where the network goes next.

Our sponsors:

Affine @affine_io
Chutes @chutes_ai
Opentensor Foundation @opentensor
Proof of Talk @proofoftalk
TaoStats @taostats
Manifold @manifoldlabs
Lium @lium_io
KubeTEE @KubeTEEAI
Score @webuildscore
BigTensor @bigtensorai
ChronoLLM @chronollm
Dendrite @DendriteHQ
Talisman @wearetalisman
Yuma @YumaGroup
404gen @404gen_
Bitcast @Bitcast_network
BitMind @bitmind
Crucible Labs @CrucibleLabs
Gradients @gradients_ai
Green Compute @green_compute_
OpenRoboto @openroboto
Leadpoet @LeadpoetAI
Mentat Minds @mentatminds
Yanez AI @yanez__ai

Thank you also to our media partners:

@CryptoAmb · @BitcoinNews · @Cointelegraph · @taotimesdotai · @taodaily_io

And to the teams who supported the event:

@bitstarterAI · @HackConcordia · McGill AI Lab · @SubnetsForGood_ · @btlabs_ai · @vidaio_

To everyone who showed up, shared their work and made time for a conversation: thank you for making Exploit Summit a place to meet the people behind Bittensor.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

That's a wrap! Thank you to every builder, researcher, miner, validator, investor, speaker, sponsor and curious newcomer who came to Montreal and made Exploit what it was - and everyone who tuned in from around the world.

Bittensor lives online. But sometimes, you need to gather. To put faces to usernames. Challenge ideas in real time. Make new connections IRL.

Exploit was much bigger than the room and we can't wait for the next one🧡

[Subnet Summer @SubnetSummerTAO]

The @ExploitSummit Bittensor conference in Montreal was packed with exciting news all around. There were important protocol changes. Subnets made announcements on their latest developments and achievements.

Many different pieces of news hit the Bittensor wire in the short 2 day timespan. Here were some of the biggest bombshells that dropped:

• The Gamma token

In the keynote speech to kick off the conference, Jacob Reeves, aka Const (@const_reborn), one of the co-founders of Bittensor, announced a new and complex token tied to network usage of infrastructure compute/inference/storage subnets. The goal of this token is to have subnets utilize internal resources utilizing a portion of their subnet token emissions without having to sell. This has the potential to fuel lots of projects in the ecosystem and ensure they have the firepower to build on their respective initiatives. More on this soon.

• The Paralex 8B parameter run

Job Durbin of @chutes_ai announced their successful training run on an 8 billion parameter model using RTX 5090 GPUs that was actually run smoothly and quickly on a phone. The whole run cost $6500, a considerably less cost than other comparable training runs.

Durbin demonstrated that anyone around the world could run quality models off their personal devices. The goal is to not need datacenters and give people unqualified access to AI models.

• IOTA SDK and Liquid Compute platform

@IOTA_SN9 has been well regarded as one of Bittensor’s finest “research subnets”. In fact, Will Squires, the CEO of Macrocosmos, the team behind Iota, was part of a debate discussing revenue vs research with Mog.

However, Iota officially announced plans to commercialize their technology with its new SDK, which allows builders to pre-train, fine-tune, post-train models with a vast GPU pool filled by their miners. They recently trained a 100 Billion parameter model, called Orion, which gives them the assurance this pipeline parallelism approach will be effective in its SDK.

• Metanova- Lab Synthesis

@metanova_labs is Bittensor's drug discovery subnet. Miners are tasked to build models and produce synthetic molecules that can be tested for real life drug use cases. They announced molecules that have been produced on the subnet are being tested and synthesized in a real world lab.

• Swarm introduced Sentinel, autonomous drones designed to patrol solar sites

@SwarmSubnet is a subnet specifically tailored to building and coordinating autonomous drones. Someone from a solar plant approached the team with a problem. Copper was being stolen and the plant needed better security. Swarm provided their autonomous drone technology to monitor the site and report any nefarious activity.

• 404 Gen announced the winners of the Game Jam competition uses their special mesh 3D generative technology

@404gen_ is the 3D Generation subnet. They have amassed the largest collection of 3D assets in the world. Subnet 17 is focusing on taking a slice of the gaming market with their 3D generation asset mechanism. To showcase its prowess, 404-Gen organized a competition called Game Jam. Anyone could use this technology to create their own game.

The winner created a neat puzzle adventure game called “The Last Bellkeeper” focused on the wind with dazzling graphics and smooth gameplay. The winners and participants of this contest will be helped by 404-Gen to promote their games to gain users and profitability.

• Carbon Physics won Pitchtensor

@bitstarterAI hosted an event called Pitchtensor to give aspiring subnet teams a chance to pitch their business idea to earn a subnet slot. @Carbonphysicsai won the contest and raised 500 TAO shortly thereafter. They are tackling the physics space. Their miners will submit models that can solve real engineering problems for items like batteries, AI-chip cooling, and electric motors.

• Green compute announced a $4 million data center is planned for the end of next month

@green_compute_ is a subnet that generates compute via their reusable and mostly underutilized resources such as manure. They just announced a plan to build a $4 million datacenter to bolster their initiatives.

• Bitcast announced Subent Summer integration of their incentive mechanism

@Bitcast_network has created a unique niche in the Bittensor ecosystem. They have become the de facto marketing arm for the platform. Bitcast announced that TAPE and @SubnetSummerTAO will be utilizing its incentive mechanism to contribute content into the ecosystem.
Learn more here: https://t.co/Jkzlj2r0r0

Not only were there many exciting announcements, but also some thought provoking talks about the direction of Bittensor, how to survive, and tapping into the human element of it.

Want to continue the conversation? Join our Telegram group to be a part of the Town Square. https://t.co/Kfg6hTV5Au

[Agrippa @admiralagrippa]

We were honoured to have @jon_durbin speak at @ExploitSummit, and boy did he deliver. Everyone please give this a watch if you missed it, it was incredibly inspiring.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

Day two at Exploit Summit, Montreal.

Carbon won Pitchtensor. Gamma got a deeper technical discussion. Minos demonstrated an agent-powered research app. Across both stages, builders showed their work and debated what Bittensor needs next.

Here’s the recap.

OTF STAGE

• @const_reborn and @KeithSingery explored the Gamma proposal: on-chain service credits, predictable compute costs, and the trade-offs when subnet owners spend emissions on other subnets’ services.

• @carbonphysicsai won Pitchtensor, reaching 500 TAO. @macrozack announced a round lasting 19 minutes and 58 seconds, with Carbon and @fugal_ai pitching through @bitstarterAI. Congratulations to @RyanBequette and the Carbon team.

• @centrum_blue announced limited @theminos_ai Studio access for approved academic researchers, combining synthetic genomic datasets with miner-tested configurations. He also previewed Minos’ second incentive mechanism: an agent research loop on a Mac, with an iPhone companion to pause the miner remotely.

• Ben James showcased @404gen_ game jam winners and outlined the next step: helping creators monetize their games, with revenue shared with SN17.

• @WSquires and @mogmachine debated how emissions should support growing businesses and research, including useful outputs, accountability and timelines.

• @tadlouni examined what subnet participants actually control: keys, operations, emissions and decision-making.

• @yubrew of @bitsecai explained findings in @heydittoai’s incentive mechanism and why seed timing matters. He said the reported issues had been fixed.

• In the final panel, @jon_durbin of @chutes_ai walked @GSchvey through adopting conviction lock: a safer result, alongside the development work required to accommodate protocol changes.

RAO STAGE

• @LindsMikeStone of @YumaGroup, Kelly Woodward of @CrucibleLabs and @capradavis joined @macrozack of @bitstarterAI to discuss how incubators select and support founders, and why a team’s ability to adapt matters beyond its original idea.

• @josercaldera demonstrated Yanez Gate and Pulse: an agent’s spending request blocked by its allowance, then authorized after the limit changed.

• Will O’Brien showed Provenonce’s first Bittensor testnet cycle and its observatory: one validator and two miners, all operated by the team. Test TAO, not mainnet.

• Youssef El Moujahid of @YumaGroup presented ASMR, a research proposal for adjusting subnet liquidity using slippage benchmarks and a volatility limit.

• @quack_builder showed the device behind @openroboto Shift and described how data sales could support robotics research, with data returning to the open pool after a buyer’s exclusivity period.

• @isabella618033 showed how @ConnitoAI turns training requests into reusable experts, with requests open for review and a model marketplace waitlist.

• @xavi3rlu announced a partnership between @pareton_ai and @engyai to optimize inference for lower latency and higher throughput.

• @RomAI__ and @0xgrizzz of @reliquary_ai invited subnet teams into early access for post-training on customer tasks.

• @Nic_B1m introduced @b1m_ai Studio, SDK and CLI, alongside an Action Registry where developers can publish extensions and charge for their use.

• @Gareth_Vidaio described @vidaio_ powering the event’s multilingual stream and the team’s streaming and object-removal launches that week.

• @peytonspencer and @omarzanji presented @heydittoai V2’s shared context and portable memory, plus a planned Router track rewarding lower-cost coding workflows without sacrificing quality.

• Josh Riddett of @green_compute_ announced another $4 million data centre planned for the end of October.

Thank you to the speakers, builders, miners, validators, researchers and community members who made these two days possible.

For the demos, the difficult questions, the pitches and the conversations that carried on beyond the stage.

From Montreal, thank you for being part of Exploit Summit.

We’ll share any further updates in the posts that follow.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

A Mac app for miners. An iPhone companion to control it remotely.

“Let your agent do the work for you.”

@centrum_blue previews @theminos_ai’s second incentive mechanism: AI agents working on genomic research tasks for Bittensor’s SN107. Watch the on-stage demo run a research loop, open its logs and pause the miner from a phone.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

“The acceleration, to an extent, makes us pause and decelerate.”

@jon_durbin of @chutes_ai walks @GSchvey through the work behind Chutes’ move to conviction lock. He says the result is safer, but explains how protocol changes can interrupt product development.

A builder’s perspective from Exploit Summit’s closing panel.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

Another $4 million data centre, planned for the end of October.

At Exploit Summit, Josh Riddett of @green_compute_ announces the next deployment for Bittensor’s SN110, following the $3 million facility he says recently went online.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

“So trust is the next bottleneck here in physics AI.”

Fast predictions only matter if engineers can rely on them. At Pitchtensor, @RyanBequette explains the problem @carbonphysicsai is tackling: proving where a model works, under which conditions, and where its limits are.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

The livestream you're watching is powered by @vidaio_.

@Gareth_Vidaio confirms the team is streaming Exploit Summit in multiple languages and has launched two products this week: streaming and object removal. Bittensor’s SN85, in use at the event itself.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

Build an extension. Let other teams use it in their data transfers.

@Nic_B1m announces @b1m_ai’s Studio, SDK and CLI, alongside an Action Registry where developers can publish extensions and charge for their use. New tools for building on Bittensor’s SN105, unveiled at Exploit Summit.

[Exploit Summit @ExploitSummit]

Off stage, still in the conversation.

@const_reborn spending time with the Bittensor community, taking questions and hearing people out.

Another side of Exploit Summit. And there’s more to come.