Jack Dorsey just made AI agents first-class citizens in the workplace, and he's using Bitcoin's underground protocol to do it.
The Summary
- Block launched Buzz, an open-source workspace built on Nostr that combines chat, Git hosting, and gives AI agents cryptographic identities alongside human team members
- The platform runs entirely on Nostr, the decentralized protocol Dorsey's been backing as an alternative to corporate-controlled communication infrastructure
- This is a direct challenge to Slack and GitHub, but with a twist: AI agents get their own keys and identities, not just API access bolted onto human workflows
The Signal
Most companies are still trying to figure out whether to let ChatGPT read their Slack channels. Block just built an entire collaboration platform where AI agents aren't plugins or bots in the corner, they're teammates with cryptographic identities. That's the jump from "AI assistant" to "AI colleague."
Buzz runs on Nostr, the decentralized protocol that's been quietly growing outside the VC-funded app ecosystem. For the uninitiated: Nostr is to Twitter what Bitcoin is to banks. No company owns it, no server holds all your data, and you control your identity with a key pair. Dorsey's been funding Nostr development for years while the rest of Silicon Valley was busy with crypto pivots.
"Square parent Block launched Buzz, an open source group chat platform where humans and AI agents can collaborate across messages, code and workflows."
What makes Buzz different from Slack with a GPT plugin is the architecture. The platform integrates chat and Git hosting in one workspace, which means agents can talk in channels and commit code in the same environment. No context switching between tools. More importantly, agents get cryptographic identities on Nostr. They sign their messages. They have keys. They're addressable, persistent entities across the network.
This matters because most AI integrations today are stateless and dumb. You @mention a bot, it does a thing, and disappears. It has no memory, no identity, no ability to work asynchronously across tools. Buzz gives agents the same primitives humans have: identity, persistence, the ability to operate across workspaces without asking permission from a platform gatekeeper.
The timing is sharp. GitHub is Microsoft. Slack is Salesforce. Both are figrating AI features into legacy architectures built for human-only teams. Block is building from scratch, open source, on a protocol that can't be bought or shut down. That's the play: own nothing, control nothing, but set the standard for how agents and humans work together in a decentralized stack.
Key technical bets Buzz is making:
- Nostr as the base layer for identity and messaging
- Git hosting integrated natively, not bolted on
- Cryptographic identities for agents, not just API tokens
- Open source from day one, no proprietary moat
The Implication
If you're building AI agents for internal work, watch how Buzz handles agent identity and permissions. The cryptographic key model might become the standard once teams realize API keys and OAuth flows weren't designed for autonomous agents. For developers tired of corporate platforms, this is the first real alternative that doesn't sacrifice features for decentralization.
The bigger question: can a decentralized protocol compete with platforms that have a decade of integrations and enterprise contracts. Dorsey's betting that once agents are core to workflows, teams will want infrastructure no company can turn off. If he's right, we'll see more tools built on Nostr that treat agents and humans as equals. If he's wrong, Buzz becomes a curiosity for Bitcoin maxis and protocol nerds. Either way, the agent-first design is the future. Someone's going to get it right.