AI server and homelab setup is rapidly becoming a solved problem. It should feel that way for everyone. You don’t need to start from scratch, and the solutions are free and open source.
https://t.co/CpUkD2qDFZ
I’d argue that for 90% of the value we’d like to see from AI in business that the frontier doesn’t have to keep rapidly moving away from where we are right now today in 2026 and that most of what remains now is deployment more than chasing deeper and more esoteric use cases.
And like you’ve seen yourself even if the frontier does keep moving, normal people’s access to it to solve their problems may be limited. Further hedging the value of those gains.
I’ve seen great usage of open models outside of coding and would just posit the idea that some of your doubts there may be tied to the harnesses and infrastructure around the LLM itself not necessarily the model. There’s a lot that can be done with these.
And most importantly, privacy and cost controls are huge factors for just about every real business use case out there. You are the AI business guy, I’m sure you could see how privacy, cost controls, and ROI are a factor here yes? Not just maximum frontier capability?
We don’t disagree on that much. We likely disagree on the value of the delta between 10-20% capability and the value of 100% privacy, cost control, and autonomy.
Or when just swapping cloud API for cloud API the value of maybe a 10% capability delta on a top 2-3 lab vs maybe a 5x cost difference for that 10% against a hosted OS model.
Or on how easy it is to ROI hardware assets inside a commercial org, and why that’s valuable.
Genuinely Ethan, I don’t want to be nasty. In this area of the field it’s just hard to keep hearing you pump 2-3 companies and dismiss the economics, capabilities, virtues, and benefits of an entire side of the industry.
And just to be clear, I really try to ascribe good intent to you when you do so. I try to tell myself “he just genuinely doesn’t know”. But I also know that you are incredibly smart, and surrounded by a massive pool of resources, and eventually it starts feeling like you are willfully pushing opinions that aren’t grounded in practical reality.
I don’t want to be or feel nasty to anyone. Least of all you. But I sincerely would like to talk to you about all of this if you genuinely aren’t up to date on the space or implore you to talk to others who you trust and are respected inside this space. Because you just keep pumping 2-3 closed labs and ignoring a massive industry and capability and virtue set around open source AI.
@cgtwts He couldn’t be more transparent if he tried. He’s a baby. He’s that kid who got an early lead in the first five minutes of a game and now wants to end the game while he’s ahead instead of continuing to try to compete. It would be funny if he wasn’t so actively dangerous.
@MatthewBerman Matt my friend, how would any future model be different? This is a line in the sand for future US model release policy. 5.6 is actively going through the same thing. This is our new world, unless we build a different one.
@emollick Not everyone can just burn cloud tokens on U Penn’s dime. There’s real economics that you are insulated from that are causing you to ignore near equivalent options at -80%+ of the cost. That’s not an irrelevant factor for normal people.