AETHER // PROTOCOL FAMILY
The Protocol Family
One commitment chain architecture. Three entropy sources. Every security maturity level.
Protocol-C
Zero-Cost Commitment Infrastructure
Every audit trail sealed. Every decision provable. Zero infrastructure cost.
Protocol-C creates tamper-evident commitments — SHA-256 chain, RFC 3161 trusted timestamp, ephemeral key destroyed after signing. Pure Python, zero dependencies, runs on any CPU. No external accounts. No per-call fees.
Built for
- SaaS platforms at scale
- AI companies committing model outputs
- Financial systems requiring trade audit trails
- Any team that needs tamper-proof records at volume
Protocol-L
Quantum-Authenticated Commitments
Entropy sourced from quantum hardware. Physically unpredictable. Legally defensible.
Protocol-L seeds every signing key from IBM Fez — a 156-qubit quantum circuit. Quantum measurement is non-deterministic by physical law. Three-phase lifecycle, independent quantum seed per phase, ephemeral keys destroyed after use.
Built for
- Cybersecurity firms
- Legal/compliance teams
- Financial institutions under SEC/MiFID II/DORA
- Environments where classical entropy trust is insufficient
Protocol-T
Execution Context Attestation
Cryptographic proof that your code ran where you say it ran — and no one touched it.
Protocol-T binds every commitment to a hardware attestation quote from Intel SGX or AMD SEV-SNP. MRENCLAVE is SHA-256 of exact binary. Host OS/cloud provider cannot observe or modify the enclave.
Built for
- Healthcare AI (HIPAA/FDA)
- Financial model governance (OCC/SEC)
- AI labs proving safety evaluations
- Confidential compute
Definitions
- Protocol-C
- Zero-cost commitment infrastructure using OS kernel entropy (CSPRNG). Classical, no quantum hardware.
- Protocol-L
- Quantum-authenticated commitments using IBM Fez quantum hardware.
- Protocol-T
- Execution-context attestation via hardware enclaves.
Protocol-C: Commitment Infrastructure at Zero Cost
01
The Economics: Why $0 Matters at Scale
IBM QPU time costs roughly $100/min. At 10,000 users generating commitments, that translates to ~$3,300/month for operations that don't need quantum entropy. Protocol-C eliminates that cost entirely by sourcing entropy from the OS kernel — same chain architecture, zero QPU overhead.
02
What It Guarantees: Same Chain, Different Source
SHA-256 commitment chain. RFC 3161 trusted timestamps. Ephemeral key destruction after every signing operation. The output is computationally indistinguishable from quantum-seeded commitments — identical chain format, identical verification path.
03
Who Uses It
SaaS platforms, AI companies committing model outputs, financial institutions operating at scale. One environment variable switches any Protocol-C deployment to Protocol-L when quantum assurance becomes necessary.
Protocol-L: Cryptographic Accountability for Autonomous AI
01
The Lifecycle: Commit \u2192 Execute \u2192 Settle
Three independently signed phases. Each phase receives its own ephemeral secp256k1 key, seeded from a unique quantum measurement. SHA-256 binding chains the phases together — tampering with any phase invalidates the entire commitment.
02
Quantum Entropy Foundation
156-qubit IBM circuit (Fez). Quantum measurement is non-deterministic by physical law — no seed, no state, no replay. Ephemeral keys live approximately one hour. 168x safety margin against Shor's algorithm at current qubit counts.
03
Dispute Resolution: Evidence, Not Logs
Exportable proof packages for regulators and counterparties. Structured for DORA, SEC, MiFID II, and FCA compliance frameworks. Every commitment is independently verifiable — no trust in the issuing party required.
Protocol-T: Prove What Ran, Not Just What Was Signed
01
The Problem
There is a gap in every AI audit trail. Logs are circumstantial — they cannot prove which model version ran, whether the pipeline was intact, or if intermediate data was modified. Signatures prove intent, not execution context.
02
How Attestation Works
MRENCLAVE — the SHA-256 measurement of the exact binary loaded into the enclave. The enclave cannot be observed or modified by the host OS, hypervisor, or cloud provider. Attestation quotes are verifiable via Intel or AMD root certificates.
03
Who Needs It
Healthcare AI under HIPAA/FDA. Financial institutions governed by OCC/SEC. AI labs required to prove safety evaluations ran unmodified. Any confidential compute environment where execution integrity is non-negotiable.
Frequently asked questions
Aether AI LLC (also known as Aether Systems) is a Florida AI company founded by Brandon Barrante that builds a connected AI platform for research, creation, software development, autonomous agents, security, and financial systems — combining frontier models, agent orchestration, deterministic execution, and verifiable infrastructure across one product family.
All three variants share one commitment chain architecture.
SHA-256 · RFC 3161 · Perfect Forward Secrecy · Patent Pending