Announcing the upcoming launch of ZaKi, a vertically integrated ZK hosting service, engineered to transform how developers deploy Zero-Knowledge Proofs by leveraging highly optimized hardware.
Combining our innovative ICICLE software with custom-configured hardware, ZaKi delivers unparalleled cost-performance advantages in ZK computation.
ZaKi leverages the capabilities of ICICLE, a state-of-the-art ZKP acceleration library. A new variant of ICICLE, named ICICLE-NG (ICICLE No-GPU) enables seamless transition from standard computational setups such as local dev environments to ones that are optimized for ZK-specific workloads, involving high core-count CPUs, cutting-edge Nvidia GPUs, and substantial RAM allocations.
Here we measured the effective cost of EspressoSystems verifiable information disperse protocol. The primary bottleneck for this protocol is a KZG commitment, which we ported to the GPU using ICICLE. Under worst case assumptions, we achieve a 5X improvement in effective-cost-performance compared to the second best instance and 12.7X compared to CPU-only instance.
ZK development is commonly done on traditional dev environments where ZK circuits are typically designed and tested on local CPUs or standard cloud-based CPU instances. As projects scale, the need to enhance the performance of ZK provers becomes critical, prompting a shift towards hardware acceleration.
Here's where ZaKi makes a difference. By providing a managed environment that is already optimized for ZK computations, we remove the hurdles of hardware setup and configuration, allowing teams to focus solely on their ZK applications.
ICICLE ships a new version
ZaKi Hardware Upgrade
Import ICICLE-NG
Design, build and test with our estimator
Share your code
Get your prover API endpoint
ICICLE-NG: Initially, developers can utilize ICICLE without requiring direct GPU access. This phase is designed to help developers gauge the potential performance benefits of moving to GPU-accelerated instances without the immediate need for hardware knowledge.
Hardware-Accelerated Deployment: ZaKi operates on a pay-per-proof model, reminiscent of AWS Lambda, allowing developers to run their provers or specific sub-protocols on our optimized ZK instances. We ensure cost efficiency by achieving performance parity with the ICICLE-NG performance estimator through our tailored hardware solutions.
Continuous Improvement and Support: As developers become more familiar with the platform, they benefit from continuous updates to both ICICLE software and hardware configurations, which are handled entirely by our backend—free from the overhead typically associated with such upgrades.
Effective Compute Cost: We define our proof cost metric as the nominal cost divided by instance utilization and further divided by prover efficiency. This demonstrates ZaKi’s ability to drastically reduce operational costs. By optimizing hardware utilization and efficiency, ZaKi offers a significant economic advantage over traditional cloud providers.
Developer-Focused: Designed with developers in mind, ZaKi simplifies the transition to using powerful computational resources, ensuring that even teams without deep hardware expertise can leverage the benefits of advanced ZK proving.
Can't run production code locally
Non-optimized code
GPU expertise needed
Expensive GPUs sitting idle
Unified development & production code
Hardware + Software Optimized code
ICICLE handles GPU usage
Pay per proof
Generating Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs is notoriously data and compute-intensive, requiring substantial computational resources to achieve optimal performance. The deployment of ZK applications necessitates the use of specialized hardware such as GPUs, which excel in handling parallel computations. Maximizing these performance gains demands a sophisticated approach to software/hardware co-design—a process fraught with complexity and specialized knowledge.
As ZK technology increasingly integrates into products transforming our daily lives, the demand for more accessible and powerful computational solutions is becoming apparent. Our aim with ZaKi is to empower developers to utilize hardware accelerators like GPUs, without the intricacies of mastering hardware-specific configurations or the nuances of GPU programming.
By providing a managed environment that is already optimized for ZK computations, we remove the hurdles of hardware setup and configuration, allowing teams to focus solely on their ZK applications.
As we prepare for a wider rollout, we invite developers to join our waitlist for early access. By participating in the early stages, you can influence the future development of ZaKi and ensure it meets your specific needs. Join the waitlist to sign up for early access.
What is the status of ICICLE's capabilities?
How is a silicon company managing infrastructure challenges?
Has ZaKi been tested in real-world environments?
How does ZaKi contribute to the decentralization of ZK provers?
What sets ZaKi apart from other ZK clouds?
What are ZaKi's plans for ensuring data privacy?
Can developers get bare-metal access to ZaKi's infrastructure?
What does the introduction of ZaKi mean for ZKContainers?
Can you share more details on the specs of your machines?
