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As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes industries across the globe, a new question is beginning to dominate technology and investment circles: who will own the infrastructure powering the next generation of AI?

That was the focus of a recent episode of Capital Compass, where host Ricki Lee sat down with Siam Kidd, CEO of Astrid Intelligence (AQSE:ASTR), to discuss the company’s ambitious vision for decentralized AI and its growing role within the Bittensor ecosystem.

Building the “Third Great Network”

According to Siam Kidd, decentralized AI could represent the next major leap in global digital infrastructure.

He compared Bittensor to two transformative technologies that came before it: the internet and Bitcoin. The internet enabled the global transfer of information, while Bitcoin revolutionized peer-to-peer value exchange. Bittensor, Kidd argues, introduces something even more powerful,  a decentralized network for intelligence creation and distribution.

Rather than operating as a centralized AI giant, Bittensor allows independent participants around the world to contribute computing power, models, and data in exchange for rewards. The result is an open-source ecosystem designed to accelerate innovation through incentives and collaboration.

Kidd described the platform as potentially becoming “the Linux for AI,” where specialized AI systems can evolve and compete across a wide range of applications, from weather forecasting to autonomous trading.

Astrid Intelligence: More Than an AI Investor

Unlike many companies entering the AI sector purely as investors, Astrid Intelligence is positioning itself as an active infrastructure operator.

The company is focused on building and acquiring systems directly within the Bittensor ecosystem. That means operating validators, supporting decentralized AI networks, and developing proprietary platforms designed to capture long-term value from emerging AI technologies.

Kidd emphasized that Astrid is not simply buying and holding digital assets. Instead, the company aims to participate directly in the mechanisms that power decentralized AI, similar to how early Bitcoin miners helped secure the Bitcoin network while benefiting from its growth.

This operational approach gives Astrid exposure to both the technological development and commercial opportunities emerging inside the ecosystem.

The Vision Behind Astrid Arena

One of the company’s most ambitious projects is Astrid Arena, a competitive platform where developers build autonomous AI trading agents.

The concept combines elements of AI research, algorithmic trading, and incentive-driven competition.

Participants submit trading agents that compete in simulated markets using a basket of assets including Bitcoin, gold, and other digital currencies. Every trade made by an agent is recorded alongside the reasoning behind it, allowing Astrid to gather valuable insights into how successful AI systems make decisions.

The competitions are structured with significant prize pools, encouraging developers worldwide to improve their models and strategies.

What has surprised Kidd most is the pace of improvement.

In the early stages, many agents struggled to generate profits. However, within just a few months, performance levels reportedly improved dramatically, with even average-performing agents achieving strong simulated returns over short trading periods.

For Astrid, the opportunity extends far beyond competition.

The long-term vision is to aggregate the intelligence generated through these battles and eventually develop institutional-grade trading systems that could be licensed to investment firms or deployed internally.

A Different Approach to AI Development

A major theme throughout the discussion was the contrast between centralized AI companies and decentralized AI ecosystems.

While major firms like OpenAI and xAI focus on building large, all-encompassing models, Kidd believes Bittensor thrives by encouraging highly specialized AI solutions.

Instead of one massive system trying to solve every problem, decentralized AI allows thousands of focused applications to emerge independently. Over time, the most effective capabilities can be adopted, integrated, or monetized across broader AI systems.

This modular approach could create a more resilient and innovative ecosystem, where developers are rewarded directly for solving specific challenges.

Leadership Built on Diverse Experience

Kidd’s unconventional background also plays a role in shaping Astrid’s strategy.

Before leading Astrid Intelligence, he built experience as a trader, entrepreneur, angel investor, former RAF pilot, and fund manager. He has previously built, scaled, and sold multiple businesses, while also spending more than two decades in financial markets.

That combination of technical curiosity, operational experience, and market knowledge appears central to Astrid’s approach as it navigates the fast-moving decentralized AI landscape.

Looking Ahead

As decentralized AI continues to evolve, companies like Astrid Intelligence are attempting to position themselves at the foundation of a potentially transformative industry.

Rather than chasing short-term hype, the company is focusing on infrastructure, incentives, and operational participation inside emerging AI networks.

Whether decentralized AI becomes the next major computing revolution remains to be seen. But if it does, Astrid Intelligence is aiming to be one of the companies helping to build the rails beneath it.

For more information visit – https://astrid.global/

VTY Vistry Group (LSE:VTY) reported a 32% increase in year-to-date sales rates, supported by accelerated sales of completed and near-completed open market homes. However, the company said achieving these higher sales volumes has required increased discounting across lower-margin developments, which is expected to place additional pressure on first-half profitability. Activity within the partnerships division also remains subdued as the market transitions to a new Social Affordable Housing Programme, although Vistry noted that its £4.5 billion forward order book and anticipated grant allocations later in the year should help support stronger partner revenues during the second half of 2026.

Management said cash generation and debt reduction have become the company’s primary priorities for the year. To support these objectives, Vistry is reducing inventory levels, tightening commercial terms on partnership agreements, slowing selected build programmes, introducing stricter land acquisition criteria and suspending its share buyback programme in order to target a year-end net cash position exceeding £100 million. While ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and the near-term impact of discounting are expected to result in significantly weaker first-half earnings, the board said it still anticipates second-half profit to match last year’s level and expects full-year adjusted profit before tax to fall around the midpoint of current analyst forecasts. A broader strategic review led by recently appointed chief executive Adam Daniels is also expected later this year as the group looks to refine its operating model.

The company’s outlook is held back primarily by very weak technicals (price below all major DMAs with negative MACD and deeply oversold momentum). Financially, the company benefits from a relatively conservative balance sheet and currently positive free cash flow, but subdued revenue and materially lower margins versus prior years reduce confidence in near-term earnings power. Valuation is neutral at a ~15x P/E, with no dividend yield data to add support.

More about Vistry Group

Vistry Group is a UK-based housebuilder focused on delivering both open market housing and affordable homes through partnership arrangements with housing associations and public sector organisations. The group serves private homebuyers as well as social housing providers and positions itself as a significant contributor to addressing long-term housing supply demand across the UK.

PREM Premier African Minerals (LSE:PREM) has raised approximately £1 million through a direct subscription for new ordinary shares on AIM, with proceeds intended to support commissioning work at the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project, alongside operating costs, creditor obligations and general working capital requirements. Following completion of the fundraising, the company’s issued share capital will increase to 38.13 billion ordinary shares. Operationally, Premier said the new flotation plant, crushing circuit and conveyor infrastructure at Zulu have now substantially completed cold commissioning and remain on course to enter hot commissioning with ore feed during the second quarter of 2026.

At the Zulu Lithium project, water-based cold commissioning activities across the flotation system and associated crushing and milling facilities have largely been finalised. The company said testing has included successful operation of conveyor systems, bypass chutes and recommissioning of the crushing circuit using ore. The next stage will involve hot commissioning, including the introduction of reagents and ore to begin spodumene froth recovery, marking an important step toward bringing the processing plant into full commercial operation. Management stated that progress remains aligned with the previously communicated Q2 2026 commissioning schedule.

The company’s outlook is held down primarily by weak financial performance (persistent losses, negative gross profit, and continued cash burn) and a bearish technical setup (price below major moving averages with negative MACD). Valuation is also constrained by a negative P/E and no dividend yield data, offering limited support.

More about Premier African Minerals

Premier African Minerals is a multi-commodity mining and resource development business focused on projects across Southern Africa. Its portfolio includes assets such as the RHA Tungsten and Zulu Lithium projects in Zimbabwe and spans commodities including tungsten, lithium, tantalum and rare earth elements, covering both near-production brownfield developments and earlier-stage exploration opportunities.

OMI Orosur Mining (LSE:OMI) has reported additional positive drilling results from the Pepas West area within its Anzá gold project in Colombia, with recent drill holes intersecting broad zones of near-surface gold mineralisation. Highlights included intercepts of 23.45 metres grading 2.98 g/t gold and 16.1 metres at 2.68 g/t gold. The company also confirmed that a key step-out drill hole extended known mineralisation approximately 30 metres to the northwest of previous drilling, indicating a strike length of at least 100 metres with further exploration potential still untested. Drilling activities have temporarily shifted southward while geological teams analyse the latest results and prepare the next phase of work aimed at defining the overall scale of the discovery.

At the nearby APTA prospect, where around 39,000 metres of historic drilling have already outlined a sizeable epithermal gold system, the company said drill hole MAP-106 has now entered the intended target zone despite challenging ground conditions. The hole is designed to test updated geological interpretations that could contribute toward a future mineral resource estimate. Combined with the existing maiden resource at Pepas and ongoing exploration work at El Cedro, the latest drilling activity indicates that Anzá may be evolving into a broader multi-deposit gold project, potentially enhancing Orosur’s long-term asset value and attractiveness to investors and strategic partners.

More about Orosur Mining

Orosur Mining Inc. is a gold exploration business listed on both the TSX Venture Exchange and AIM, focused on advancing its wholly owned Anzá Project in Colombia’s Mid-Cauca gold belt. Through its subsidiaries Minera Anzá and Minera Monte Aguila, the company controls approximately 330 square kilometres of exploration licences containing multiple high-grade gold prospects, including Pepas, APTA and the El Cedro porphyry cluster.

AVON Avon Technologies (LSE:AVON) delivered a strong first-half performance for fiscal 2026, with revenue rising 6.8% to $160.8 million and adjusted operating profit increasing 39.4% to $24.4 million. The improvement lifted operating margins into the company’s targeted 14% to 16% range, allowing Avon to achieve its medium-term profitability objectives around 18 months earlier than planned. The performance was supported by stronger commercial execution and manufacturing improvements, particularly at the group’s Cleveland facility, despite a decline in orders and the closing order book caused by delays in U.S. government procurement activity and weaker demand in the U.S. commercial helmet market.

Management said increasing geopolitical instability, ongoing global conflicts and higher defence spending are continuing to drive demand for upgraded respiratory protection and ballistic helmet systems, particularly across NATO and U.S. defence markets. Avon pointed to strong long-term visibility from core programmes and recently secured multi-year contracts, including a supply agreement with the Canadian armed forces and additional helmet orders from the Middle East. The company also expressed confidence in stronger trading during the second half of the year and highlighted potential for further operational improvements as it transitions from a transformation-focused strategy toward a growth-oriented phase, with updated medium-term targets expected to follow.

The company’s outlook is held back mainly by weak technicals (downtrend and negative momentum) and an expensive valuation (very high P/E). Financial performance is improving but tempered by 2025 revenue decline and volatile cash flow, while the latest earnings call and recent positive orders/insider activity provide meaningful support to the outlook.

More about Avon Technologies

Avon Technologies specialises in military and law-enforcement protective equipment through its Avon Protection and Team Wendy divisions. The group supplies advanced respiratory systems, integrated CBRN protection and high-performance ballistic and impact-protection helmets used by more than four million military personnel and first responders across over 70 global markets, making it a significant supplier to NATO allies and domestic security organisations.

GAMA Gamma Communications (LSE:GAMA) said trading during the opening months of 2026 has remained in line with expectations, with strong cash generation helping reduce net debt despite ongoing share buybacks and acquisition-related payments. The company said growth continues to be supported by increasing adoption of cloud communications services in Germany, rising UK cloud usage ahead of the planned 2027 PSTN switch-off, and early progress from its international service provider strategy across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Gamma also highlighted new enterprise contract wins, including AI-driven deployments for customers in retail, local government and the NHS.

Management reaffirmed full-year guidance, stating that adjusted EBITDA and diluted earnings per share are expected to fall within current market consensus forecasts. The outlook continues to be supported by strong underlying cash flows and a resilient balance sheet. Gamma also disclosed that it remains engaged in preliminary discussions with several interested parties regarding potential strategic options, indicating the possibility of future corporate activity that could affect the company’s longer-term positioning within the European communications technology sector.

The company’s outlook reflects strong underlying financial quality (growth, low leverage, and positive free cash flow) offset by very weak technical conditions (price well below key moving averages and depressed momentum indicators). Valuation is reasonable with a moderate P/E and supportive dividend yield.

More about Gamma Communications

Gamma Communications is a FTSE 250-listed European provider of business-critical communications technology solutions serving SMEs, large enterprises and public sector organisations. The company supplies cloud communications software, connectivity services and AI-enabled customer experience solutions through its own telecoms infrastructure and third-party platforms, with significant operations in Germany and a large customer base across the UK SME and enterprise markets.

AMRQ Amaroq (LSE:AMRQ) reported a strong opening quarter for 2026, recording revenue of $18.9 million and net profit of $2.4 million following initial gold sales from its Nalunaq operation. Performance was supported by feed grades that exceeded company guidance and recovery levels that remained in line with expectations. During the quarter, the company completed its transition to a fully owner-operated mining model, expanded its capital asset base and secured an enlarged US$70 million revolving credit facility at a lower cost of funding. Amaroq also reaffirmed its 2026 production target of between 25,000 and 35,000 ounces of gold, with production expected to be weighted toward the second half of the year following completion of the flotation circuit.

At the operational level, Nalunaq produced 3,694 ounces of gold during the quarter, achieving an average feed grade of 19.9 grams per tonne and a recovery rate of 61%. The company also advanced regulatory approvals in Greenland through the acceptance of its final mine and closure plans as well as the completion of the final impact benefit agreement. Beyond gold production, Amaroq is preparing a broad exploration campaign for 2026 targeting rare earth elements, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, silver and additional gold prospects. The company is also simplifying its capital markets structure by proceeding with a delisting from the TSX Venture Exchange while advancing plans for a premium London listing, reflecting its ambition to establish itself as a leading Greenland-focused mining group.

More about Amaroq Ltd.

Amaroq Ltd. is an independent mining development company focused on advancing Greenland’s mineral resources. Its portfolio is centred around the Nalunaq gold mine alongside a broader pipeline of gold and strategic mineral projects. The company is expanding exploration activities across Greenland’s Nanortalik gold belt and the copper and rare earth districts of southern Greenland while pursuing a move to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.