Acurast deploys Laya AI to run on global smartphone network

Developed by Convai Innovations, Laya functions as a "System 1" model, designed for immediate structured responses rather than the conversational text generation typical of large language models. The architecture evaluates inputs against defined states to perform classification, moderation, and gaming tasks. According to Acurast, these operations typically resolve within 0.2 to 1 second using standard smartphone CPUs.

The network leverages Trusted Execution Environments within Android devices to maintain data privacy and provide cryptographic proof of computation. In exchange for providing processing capacity, operators earn Acurast’s native ACU token. Acurast founder Alessandro De Carli stated the project proves that decision-oriented AI can operate securely and at scale on hardware already owned by users, effectively bypassing cloud provider lock-in.

Demonstrations on the platform currently include automated tasks such as email classification, phishing detection, and content moderation, alongside gaming applications like Snake and Doom. Because Laya is open-source under an Apache 2.0 license, developers can deploy the 421-million-parameter model for private workloads without relying on centralized API access. This rollout marks a significant expansion for Acurast, which has seen its network grow from 72,000 devices in May 2025 to its current scale, processing over 918 million on-chain transactions.