🕐 Final Hours: CivicLens Challenge

Ocean Network has built an orchestration layer that coordinates independent GPU and CPU providers into a functional compute network. The system handles job matching, permissions, execution, and result delivery automatically. **How it works:** - Jobs run through Ocean Compute-to-Data (C2D) in isolated containers - Execution is monitored end-to-end - Containers are destroyed immediately after completion - Developers access the network directly from VS Code The [Ocean VS Code extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=OceanProtocol.ocean-protocol-vscode-extension) provides a simple interface for submitting compute jobs to the distributed network.

Ocean Protocol has launched Ocean Nodes, a decentralized computing infrastructure designed for AI and machine learning workloads. **Key features:** - Builders can access geographically distributed compute to train, fine-tune, and run models without centralized cloud providers - Ocean C2D (Compute-to-Data) keeps data and algorithms sealed inside containers—compute executes remotely, only outputs are returned - GPU owners can monetize idle hardware by contributing capacity to the network - Jobs run in isolated, containerized environments The infrastructure aims to create a sovereign compute layer for AI that is open and distributed, addressing the growing demand for GPU resources as AI workloads scale. [Learn more about Ocean Nodes](https://docs.oceanprotocol.com/developers/ocean-node)

Ocean Protocol has introduced a **Free Compute feature** to their VS Code extension to address image generation failures during rapid scaling. The new feature allows users to: - Start with small, fixed-seed baselines - Lock their settings for consistency - Save both configurations and outputs - Maintain stable, repeatable runs This approach helps developers **experiment and scale at their own pace** while avoiding common pitfalls that occur when scaling too quickly. Users receive **7,200 seconds of free compute time** to test the feature and get started with their projects. The extension continues Ocean's mission to provide seamless AI development tools that combine compute power, privacy, and algorithms directly within developers' preferred IDE environment.

**CivicLens annotation challenge completed** with 206 contributors analyzing European Parliament speeches for political discourse patterns. **Key achievements:** - Labeled speeches for stance, claims, tone, topic, and ideology - Partnership with @lunor_ai delivered high-quality political data - Results provide insights into political discourse analysis The challenge focused on creating datasets to help AI models detect market-moving political statements more effectively. [Read full details](https://blog.oceanprotocol.com/annotators-hub-civiclens-turning-speeches-into-signals-e27041c3972c)