OceanPal announced the closing of a $120 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) to launch SovereignAI, a wholly owned subsidiary focused on developing blockchain-native AI infrastructure built on the NEAR Protocol. And the new initiative positions SovereignAI as the first publicly listed company platform dedicated to advancing AI sovereignty, data privacy, and decentralized compute infrastructure at scale.
With this investment, SovereignAI intends to establish a next-generation AI ecosystem that enables developers, enterprises, and institutions to build secure and user-owned artificial intelligence systems. The platform will leverage NEAR’s scalable blockchain framework and integrate high-performance computing technology from NVIDIA to power confidential, decentralized AI-cloud services.
OceanPal’s vision for SovereignAI centers on the belief that artificial intelligence should be governed by transparent, decentralized infrastructure rather than controlled by centralized cloud providers. Through blockchain-based data verification and privacy-preserving computation, SovereignAI plans to create an environment where users retain ownership of their data and models while maintaining enterprise-grade performance and scalability.
As part of its long-term strategy, SovereignAI intends to acquire at least 10% of NEAR’s native token supply over time, using capital from its corporate treasury to align economic incentives with the NEAR ecosystem. This accumulation strategy will also support liquidity, governance participation, and interoperability between SovereignAI’s infrastructure and NEAR’s decentralized developer community.
The initial focus areas for SovereignAI include finance, healthcare, and media—industries where sensitive data, regulatory compliance, and trust are critical to deploying AI applications. By combining blockchain transparency with secure AI compute, the company aims to introduce a new paradigm for how organizations train, deploy, and manage AI models in compliance with data-ownership and privacy standards.
The creation of SovereignAI also reflects OceanPal’s broader transformation beyond its core maritime and logistics operations. The company is repositioning itself at the convergence of artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and decentralized finance, aiming to create long-term shareholder value by gaining exposure to emerging technology assets.
By bridging blockchain networks with advanced AI compute, SovereignAI intends to help define the foundation for sovereign, user-controlled artificial intelligence, one that reduces dependency on centralized cloud monopolies and empowers individuals and institutions to operate AI systems transparently and securely across global industries.
KEY QUOTES:
“We believe NEAR presents the greatest asymmetric upside across mature projects in the digital asset market. This is a public company launching as an active, strategic partner with the NEAR Foundation to advance universal AI sovereignty.”
Sal Ternullo, Co-Chief Executive Officer, OceanPal
“Our strategy goes beyond treasury management to actively build the infrastructure enabling user-owned, privacy-preserving AI at scale.”
David Schwed, Chief Operating Officer, OceanPal
“We are very pleased to welcome SovereignAI to the NEAR ecosystem. We believe the NEAR Protocol’s AI-centric stack will allow user-owned AI to meet its moment.”
Illia Polosukhin, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, NEAR Foundation
