# Fortytwo × Acurast: Swarm Inference Meets TEEs

By [Fortytwo](https://paragraph.com/@fortytwonetwork) · 2025-09-17

---

At Fortytwo we are beginning a collaboration with Acurast to explore how swarm inference can run on their global network of 100,000+ smartphones, each equipped with Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) support.

A TEE is a secure area of a device’s processor that isolates code and data during execution, preventing access even from the operating system or other applications. This setup allows us to research private AI operations that may, in some cases, offer stronger isolation than enterprise servers.

We’re building a decentralized peer-to-peer network of small language models that together form a single swarm inference architecture. Through swarm inference, many lightweight models run on independent nodes, contribute results, review each other’s outputs, and refine them until a consensus emerges.

Running these lightweight models on Acurast devices is a natural fit.

By leveraging Acurast’s decentralized architecture of smartphones across 140+ countries, Fortytwo can scale horizontally, becoming smarter with every new node, while maintaining confidentiality through secure execution.

**About Acurast**

[Acurast](https://acurast.com/) is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) and a global fleet of smartphones to provide distributed, secure edge compute. Acurast redefines decentralized compute with smartphones — battle-tested devices trusted by billions. With Acurast, AI/ML inference workloads can be securely deployed to a global network of attested edge devices, enabling privacy-preserving tasks close to data sources.

**About Fortytwo**

[Fortytwo](https://fortytwo.network/) is a decentralized AI network that introduces a new type of inference using swarms of small language models running on consumer-grade hardware to achieve scale and reasoning capabilities that exceed centralized AI. The network becomes more powerful and efficient with each new node, operating in a permissionless, transparent, and censorship-resistant manner. Fortytwo allows anyone to contribute by running a node, with node ratings recorded on the Monad blockchain for evaluation and security. Developers can access frontier AI reasoning via API or on-chain, while node operators are rewarded for their contributions.

---

*Originally published on [Fortytwo](https://paragraph.com/@fortytwonetwork/fortytwo-acurast-swarm-inference-meets-tees)*