In an exclusive interview with Cryptonews Podcast, Ariel Seidman, CEO and co-founder of Hivemapper, shared his journey from Yahoo to creating a revolutionary decentralized mapping community. He discussed the differences between Google Maps and Hivemapper, the company's key markets, and its plans for expansion.

Seidman's time at Yahoo was formative, teaching him how to build detailed maps. The early 2000s saw a fierce competition between Yahoo and Google, with Google eventually pulling ahead by gathering its own data. This realization led Seidman to understand the true cost of building maps: not only collecting data but also processing it, and the work is never truly complete as the world is constantly changing.

The rise of smartphones and the lack of new large-scale data sources led to Google Maps remaining largely unchanged over the past decade. In contrast, Hivemapper is introducing cameras everywhere, constantly refreshing the map. This approach allows for a constantly fresh map, providing users with more detailed information to make informed decisions.

Google Maps is limited in what it can offer, Seidman suggested. For example, it can provide an estimated time of arrival but cannot explain delays on certain roads. Hivemapper seeks to build a map that is always up to date, reflecting changes such as construction, speed limits, and weather conditions.

To achieve this, Hivemapper uses a unique approach. Drivers can purchase a dash cam optimized for mapping, which uploads imagery to the platform. The company also has an AI training platform where contributors help build AI models that extract relevant information from the imagery. These contributors are rewarded with Honey tokens, which depend on the location and the uniqueness of the roads.

Hivemapper serves three key markets: other businesses, autonomous driving, and consumer navigation. The company has two data products currently, which are geared towards higher-end customers. The next challenge is expanding the product offering to include more businesses.

In the interview, Seidman also discussed his experience founding the location-based data collection firm Gigwalk, the rapid mapping of 20% of the world, and the difficulties of building digital maps. He also touched on DePIN, highlighting the company's focus on real markets and industries.