Decentralizing Compute: Fluence, AI, and the Future of Web3 with Tom Trowbridge

Sam kamani

August 30, 2025

The Unfinished Job of Web3: Compute

Decentralized finance? Check. Storage? Check. But compute—the engine behind any real application—remains centralized, primarily under the control of a handful of cloud providers like AWS and Google Cloud.

Fluence sees this as a missing link. Tom Trowbridge explains how Web3 can't reach its full promise without rethinking how and where computation happens.

From Hedera to Fluence: A Founder’s Journey

Tom brings a rich background from launching Hedera Hashgraph to co-founding Fluence. He emphasizes that the need for decentralized compute became clearer as smart contract platforms matured, but off-chain compute remained a central bottleneck.

Fluence’s solution? A decentralized compute network focused on CPUs—a more abundant and underutilized resource compared to GPUs.

Why CPUs?

While many projects focus on GPUs for AI use cases, Tom makes a compelling case for CPUs. Billions of CPUs sit underutilized in data centers and edge devices worldwide. Fluence aims to harness this "excess capacity" to make compute not only decentralized but also economically efficient.

Decentralization ≠ Chaos

One of the key philosophical points Tom makes is that decentralization isn't about being scattered—it's about avoiding single points of failure.

Fluence works with multiple independent data centers, which, while not perfect, provide a major advantage over the monolithic control of Big Cloud. This structure reduces risks like censorship, de-platforming, and vendor lock-in.

Facing the Cloud Giants

Fluence isn’t trying to replace AWS overnight. Instead, they're laser-focused on niche verticals—industries and applications where decentralization offers a tangible edge.

Their competitive strategy? Lower costs, higher availability, and better censorship resistance.

Real-World Stakes: Parler, Telegram, and De-Platforming

The conversation turns serious when Tom highlights cases like Parler and Telegram—apps that were throttled or taken offline due to centralized hosting dependencies. These are not just Web3 hypotheticals. They’re real examples of why decentralized compute matters.

Where Fiat Still Matters

Not every crypto founder admits it, but Tom is clear: fiat is still essential for measuring business success and for onboarding users who may not yet be Web3-native. Fluence plans to offer a fiat front-end that hides the complexity of token-based payments and smart contract interactions.

The Path to Better UX

User experience is still a weak point in Web3. Tom envisions a future where the complexity of wallets, gas fees, and tokens fades into the background—just like no one thinks about HTTP when using a browser.

Fluence’s architecture supports this abstraction by making compute callable like an API—without deep blockchain knowledge.

A Sustainable Roadmap

Tom outlines what’s next for Fluence:

Introducing staking mechanisms
Scaling compute capacity via CPUs
Adding GPU support for AI-heavy tasks
Collaborating with green energy-powered data centers

This roadmap reinforces Fluence’s ambition to offer an environmentally conscious, scalable alternative to centralized cloud infrastructure.

Final Thoughts

This episode is more than a technical discussion—it’s a blueprint for the future of decentralized infrastructure. Tom’s vision is clear: build systems that can’t be shut down, censored, or held hostage by a single provider.

In doing so, Fluence is quietly becoming the missing piece of the Web3 puzzle.