AI‑linked crypto tokens rise 9.4% as King Charles hosts AI safety summit

AI‑linked crypto tokens gained roughly 9.4% in market value in the last 24 hours, bringing the sector’s combined market capitalization to about $18.6 billion. The rally occurred as King Charles III hosted executives from Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind for a discussion on artificial‑intelligence safety.

Sector performance

According to CoinGecko, the AI token category posted a 24‑hour trading volume of $2.42 billion, outpacing the overall cryptocurrency market’s 1.9% rise. Within the sector, AI agents rose 6.6%, AI applications 6%, and AI‑focused DeFi projects 8.1%.

Top gainers

• NEAR Protocol surged 20.8% to around $3.05.
• Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) advanced 11.7% to $0.1674.
• Render (RENDER) climbed 10.2% to $1.42.
• Bittensor (TAO) rose 6.9% to about $229.48.

Token‑specific catalysts

NEAR’s jump followed a milestone in its confidential transaction infrastructure: total value locked in confidential balances exceeded $70 million, triggering the first snapshot of its incentive program. The program set aside 333,333 milestone tokens for eligible users holding more than $100 in confidential balances with an active swap history.

Bittensor benefited from the launch of OpenRoboto (Subnet 80) on Base via a ForeverMoney wrapper, using Chainlink’s Cross‑Chain Interoperability Protocol to access Coinbase’s Ethereum layer‑2 network.

Royal summit on AI safety

The meeting at Dumfries House brought together AI company leaders, government officials and civil‑society representatives to explore common safety principles. No blockchain integrations, token purchases or direct funding for decentralized AI projects were announced.

King Charles emphasized that safety must remain central to AI development and warned of “existential dangers” if the technology falls into the wrong hands. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called for “responsible optimism” and favored voluntary controls over an industry‑wide pause.

Broader market reaction

In the United States, semiconductor stocks reacted to the safety debate, with Nvidia, AMD and Intel shares falling 3%‑6% after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s proposal to pace frontier‑model development.