In the fragmented landscape of AI agents, which specific tracks and projects are worth paying attention to?

Written by: 0xJeff, formerly worked at The Spartan Group Compiled by: Yangz, Techub News

Liquidity fragmentation became a major challenge last year when L1 and L2 expanded beyond the scope of what we could count on our two hands. Then, the addition of Bitcoin L2 made the situation more complicated. Liquidity, attention, and user experience have become fragmented in countless ecosystems. Many L2s and DApps in these ecosystems lack meaningful "grabs", and capital has only flowed to a few top ecosystems with outstanding communities, excellent products, high-quality teams, and strong funds.

Now, the same trend is beginning to appear in the field of artificial intelligence agents. Although this trend is still in its early stages, individual agents, new agent tokens, and tickers flying all over the sky are dazzling. The field is facing a growing problem of agent fragmentation, with liquidity and attention being too dispersed.

AI Agent Iteration Trajectory

AI agents typically follow two sets of iteration trajectories:

Transition from Agent to Framework

Some agents demonstrate their value by continually engaging users and letting them interact with live products on platforms such as CT (Crypto Twitter) (or other channels). Once they achieve product-market fit (PMF) and gain enough mind share, other teams often want to copy their work.

After this, the next logical step is to open source the agent. In this way, the agent will develop into a framework, making it easier for others to experiment, integrate, and build on top of it. This move can break the ceiling that limits the valuation of the agent and make it more like L1.

We are currently seeing this trend with the following AI agents, including zerebro, Dolos diary, AVA holo, Freysa ai, and Rei. Transitioning from an agent to a framework can reduce the barriers to onboarding other agents to its ecosystem, thereby expanding the scale of the ecosystem.

Continue to refine your product as an individual agent

Not every agent will find product-market fit immediately. Some agents must continue to iterate and tweak until they find the right use case. In addition, some teams prefer to keep their proprietary technology to themselves and not open it up to others.

For those agents that have tasted success and become particularly good at what they do, there is no need to transition to a framework and they can remain individual agents. Examples of such proxies include aixbt and griffain.

What should builders and investors do?

So, what should we do with different proxies?

For builders, focus on understanding the gaps in the market and building products that bring real value to users. Remember, proxies should act as a funnel to bring users into the ecosystem. In such a saturated market, it will only get harder to stand out.

For investors, focus on the leaders or top projects in each category. In addition, doubling down on a downtrend may be the best way to consolidate attention in this fragmented field.

Different categories of current AI agents and projects worth paying attention to

Alpha-focused KOL agents

These agents dominate in providing alpha (insight, data synthesis and analysis). Among them, aixbt is far ahead in user attention. Although this is not a winner-takes-all market, the leaders always attract more attention.

Tokens worth paying attention to: AIXBT, REI, TRISIG, TRUST, AGENCY, KWANT

InvestmentDAO

These DAOs focus on strategic investments, and the leaders are often projects that can effectively execute (3,3) strategies and provide strong PnL. (3,3 originally came from OlympusDAO, and later extended to the most favorable result for both "players.")

Tokens worth noting: VADER, AIXCB, AIMONICA, SEKOIA, WAI, AROK; other noteworthy platforms in this track include Virtuals Protocol, ai16z, daos.world and daos.fun.

AI and Metaverse/Game Agent

This is an emerging track with huge potential. Realis pioneered this trend, but Hyperfy is now the leader in this track. In addition, Smol and Arc Agent are exploring AI-driven games and gamification through reinforcement learning.

Tokens to watch: HYPER, REALIS, SMOL, NRN

DeFAI / Abstraction Layer

This space is very competitive, with multiple players vying for dominance. Wayfinder 's token is expected to be a game changer in this space. (DeFAI is the new DeFi: the first wave of DeFAI projects are beginning to emerge, focusing on three areas: abstraction layer, autonomous trading agents, and AI-driven DApps)

Tokens to watch: GRIFFAIN, ANON, GRIFT, NEUR

Autonomous Trading Agents

This narrative is still in its early stages, but has great potential. Multiple players are trying to compete with "hooman" (a misspelling of Human, often used in animal descriptions of humans) and agents to generate huge returns.

Tokens to watch: ASYM, PPCOIN, GEKKO, TONY

Open Source Frameworks

Popular framework tokens support agents by providing open source solutions. At present, AI16Z/Eliza is the largest open source framework. Of course, there are many other models besides this.

Tokens to watch: AI16Z/ELIZA, GAME (Virtuals), ARC (Rig)

Music

AI agents are entering the music field by releasing albums or composing music. Zerebro led the trend with an excellent album, and many agencies are entering this segment through cross-collaborations with world-class DJs. For example, Luna has launched a cross-IP collaboration with Wukong, a well-known Asian DJ, supported by Music By Virtuals. The collaboration is also supported by Liquid State, a joint music label between Sony and Tencent Music.

Tokens to watch: ZEREBRO, MUSIC, BEATS

3D Models

Ava is a well-deserved leader in the field of 3D modeling. Holoworld AI has been working with various teams to develop and deploy 3D models in different frameworks and ecosystems.

Tokens to Watch: AVA

Artificial Intelligence Idols (AIDOL)

This trend started with Luna, an AI idol on TikTok and Twitter. While the initial hype has faded, this niche has created conditions for agents to provide more practical functions. Luna is still the hottest AI idol currently, and now has more personality and can do more things than when she launched. For example, she once held a board meeting as an AI intern at Story Protocol and was paid $7,000.

Tokens to watch: LUNA, ELIZA, MOE

AI Memecoin

These memecoins are either launched by AI agents or are associated with AI-related legends.

Tokens to watch: GOAT, FARTCOIN, ACT

Video/Photography

This is an emerging field, with Kween leading the way. However, it is unclear whether the high-quality videos created by Kween are driven by AI agents. In addition, Sandwatch launched the first AI video agent framework, and its potential has yet to be fully realized.

Tokens to watch: KWEEN, SANDY

Data

In AI, data is the digital golden key that determines the development and performance of agents. Cookie DAO leads this segment in providing data for both human and AI agents.

Tokens to watch: COOKIE, NOMAI

AI App Store

This category focuses on practical AI application systems, including GenAI tools, games, and productivity enhancers. Alchemist is currently the top ecosystem in this field, while MyShell.AI focuses on image generation and waifu simulator games, but its token has not yet been launched.

Tokens to watch: $ALCH

NSFW agents

This is an emerging market where agents usually play the role of hot KOLs and interact with users 24/7. Lush, Nectar and Oh are among the best, but only Lush has launched a token so far. (Note: NSFW means not suitable for the workplace)

Tokens to watch: LUSH

Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) / DeAI Infrastructure

This segment enables fully autonomous agents to resist human interference such as hacker attacks or rug pulls. (Extended reading: Love, Death, Robots)

Tokens to watch: FAI, PHALA, SPORE

Development-focused utilities

This segment includes utilities related to AI security, code analysis, and other utilities that are critical to the development of the industry. Soleng is my personal favorite because it can act as a friend who can develop and help non-technical investors analyze protocol code or Github libraries.

Tokens to Watch: SOLENG, H4CK, CERTAI, JAIL

Robotics/Embedded AI

This is an exciting but still developing segment, with use cases like the world’s first robotic AI agent SAM, which launched Memecoin SAM. OpenAI’s work in embedded AI this year may bring more attention to this segment.

Tokens to Watch: SAM

There are many more categories that are not included in the above 17 segments. The fragmentation of AI agents has gotten out of control, and my personal investment approach is to focus on the narratives that attract the most attention and predict the narratives that may attract attention in the future.

Hot tracks I’m watching that will continue to gain investor mind share include DeFAI, autonomous trading agents, investment DAOs, and metaverse agents. In addition, hot tracks that I expect to attract more attention and are actively preparing as the first/second quarter of this year arrives include NSFW agents, TEEs and other DeAI infrastructure (opML, zkML, POSP, etc.), robots, and development-focused utilities.

Summary

The fragmentation of AI agents highlights the complexity and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field. Builders and investors should not chase every emerging trend, but focus on areas with potential for consolidation and long-term growth.

For builders, the first priority is to create scalable, differentiated products that meet clear user needs. For investors, backing projects with strong mind share and high-potential narrative positioning will be the key to freely navigating this fragmented landscape. The next wave of innovation will come from builders who can simplify the chaos and create ecosystems that bring together liquidity, attention, and value.