Transformer authorship, GTC appearances, confidential-computing usage, and Inception membership all have direct sources.
The public record
NEAR ×
NVIDIA
The documented links between Illia Polosukhin, NEAR, and NVIDIA—organized in one place, with direct sources and the hype clearly separated from the facts.
Independent evidence index · Not affiliated with NEAR or NVIDIA
Fast read
It provides tools, training, pricing, offers, and ecosystem access. NVIDIA says it is free and has no equity requirement.
The sources do not show NVIDIA investing in NEAR, choosing NEAR as an exclusive chain, or endorsing the NEAR token.
Evidence file
01
Illia Polosukhin co-authored the Transformer paper.
Illia is one of the eight listed authors of the 2017 paper Attention Is All You Need, which introduced the Transformer architecture.
This is the published author list—not a later NEAR marketing claim.
02
Jensen Huang publicly credited the Transformer authors.
At GTC 2024, NVIDIA’s CEO hosted seven of the paper’s authors and said that today’s AI era could be traced back to their work. NVIDIA’s own recap identifies Illia in the group.
03
NEAR began as an AI project.
NEAR’s founders first worked on models that could write code from natural-language descriptions. Their own history says limited GPU capacity and the difficulty of paying a global contributor network helped lead them toward blockchain infrastructure.
04
Illia joined Jensen’s GTC 2024 Transformer panel.
NVIDIA’s official materials list Illia as a panelist and identify him as co-founder of NEAR Protocol. The event was a reunion of the Transformer paper’s authors, focused on AI research and what comes next.
05
He returned to GTC in 2025.
NEAR’s recap says Illia presented research on confidential, decentralized AI computation at NVIDIA’s flagship conference for a second consecutive year.
06
NEAR AI uses NVIDIA Confidential Computing.
NEAR AI documents a private-inference stack that combines Intel TDX with NVIDIA GPU trusted execution environments. Its architecture page specifies NVIDIA H200 GPUs and hardware attestation for verifying protected execution.
This is a documented use of NVIDIA hardware security—not merely a shared logo or event appearance.
07
NEAR AI joined NVIDIA Inception in January 2026.
NEAR AI announced membership on January 13, 2026, citing access to NVIDIA technical expertise, tooling, and GPU resources. NVIDIA defines Inception as a free startup program with no application fee, membership fee, or equity requirement.
Real program membership, yes. Evidence of an NVIDIA investment or exclusive strategic alliance, no.
Bottom line
The relationship is concrete—but specific.
Illia’s place in Transformer history connects him directly to the research NVIDIA celebrates. NEAR AI also uses NVIDIA confidential-computing technology and belongs to NVIDIA Inception.
What the public record does not establish is an exclusive NVIDIA–NEAR blockchain partnership, an NVIDIA investment in NEAR, or an endorsement of the NEAR token. The strongest case is the accurate one.