This Week in Startups

Open source is going to win it all: Harvey proves it | E2328

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Key takeaways

  • Open source AI models are increasingly winning over proprietary frontier models due to the need for data ownership and control.
  • Major enterprise clients prefer building or owning their AI models to protect sensitive data, influencing industry trends toward internal AI development.
  • Product innovation in AI, such as Willow's voice dictation tool and Ethan Goodhart's autonomous golf cart, demonstrate rapid hardware and software experimentation outside big tech companies.
  • The upcoming OpenAI IPO will likely mask performance metrics like churn and costs, leading to questions about profitability and market sustainability.
  • AI's commoditization will accelerate the shift toward open, accessible, and decentralized AI solutions, challenging traditional gatekeepers.
  • Fighting up and building scalable, autonomous systems aligned with clear goals remains a core strategy for startups and established companies alike.

Summary

Main Theme: The Dominance of Open Source in AI

Jason discusses the rising trend of open source models winning in AI, highlighting Harvey's recent move to build and use their own proprietary model based on open-weight Kimi K3. The episode emphasizes that large enterprise clients prefer to retain control over their data and models, leading to a shift away from relying solely on frontier labs like OpenAI. Harvey's strategy showcases building internal systems to safeguard sensitive data, mirrored by other companies planning similar approaches. The discussion underscores that open source AI is poised to dominate the industry as companies seek to own and control their AI assets rather than depend on external providers.

The Rise of Corporate-Owned Models and Data Privacy

Harvey's example illustrates how companies are increasingly developing their own AI models to protect proprietary data, especially in sensitive fields like legal services. The episode details Harvey's use of open-weight models, post-training efforts, and the strategic economic benefits of owning their models, rather than risking data sharing with external labs. This reflects broader industry trends where corporations prioritize data privacy, control, and cost-efficiency by building internal AI solutions, which challenges the traditional frontier model providers like OpenAI.

Innovations and Competitions in AI Tools and Applications

The episode features product demos from Willow, a free AI voice dictation tool, highlighting its differentiation through context-awareness, personalizations, and enterprise applications. The conversation also covers Ethan Goodhart's self-driving golf cart project, illustrating innovative hardware and AI integration, and discusses the development of autonomous vehicles for golf courses and other transportation uses. The themes emphasize rapid innovation, open source advantages, and competitive strategies in AI hardware and software, driven by entrepreneurs and students experimenting outside major corporations.

Industry and Market Insights: Funding, IPOs, and Business Models

The podcast covers OpenAI's upcoming IPO plans, focusing on financial transparency issues like churn and cost structure, and contextualizes it within industry consolidation and competition. Discussions also touch on the importance of data stewardship, competitive intelligence, and financial sustainability among tech giants. Additionally, the episode suggests that AI's commoditization will lead to more open, decentralized models, disrupting existing monopolies. The conversation emphasizes that understanding market economics, data privacy, and strategic positioning is vital in the evolving AI landscape.

Sponsors

  • Superhuman · Superhuman Go is an AI chat that's always there when you need it. It knows what you're doing and works inside the apps and websites you already use, offering quick help for notes, travel, grammar, and emails.
  • Sentry · Sentry's logs are trace connected and structured, giving you clear context even if you're non-technical. It helps debug, understand errors quickly, and get back to shipping features.
  • Lightfield · Lightfield's AI agent handles CRM updates, prospecting, meeting bookings, and keeps your team focused on shipping features instead of chasing bugs.

Show notes

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Superhuman: https://superhuman.com

Sentry: https://sentry.io/twist

Lightfield: https://lightfield.app

Today's show:

Jason's been saying it for years now (and we've got an All In clip from 2023 to prove it). Open source will win the AI race. This week gives us a major evidence point, as $11B legal AI company Harvey released its own in-house model, trained on an open-weight Kimi K3 base. Harvey made a proprietary specialized solution without having to risk sharing its precious expert-compiled data with the major frontier labs.

PLUS we're checking out the FREE AI dictation app Willow with co-founder Allan Guo, and finding out how he plans to compete with giants like Wispr Flow and Apple. AND we've got the Stanford student who built an automated golf cart and gave luminaries like Jensen Huang and Sam Altman rides around campus.

Guests

Allan Guo on X: https://x.com/_allanguo

Willow: https://willowvoice.com/

Ethan Goodhart: https://x.com/EthanGoodhart

Sign up for the Wind TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/zZqmhhwf

Relevant Links

CNBC: OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027": https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/open-ai-ipo-timing-2027-friar.html

OpenAI Zero Data Retention Pledge: https://openai.com/index/our-commitment-to-zero-data-retention

TWIST (June 2026): Jason comments on OpenAI and training data: https://youtu.be/o3eow1nTrcI?si=orungk7OmplOuyio&t=742

All In podcast (Feb 2023): Jason comments on open source vs. frontier models: https://youtu.be/PVgBWV2bvLs?si=j6y7sHS0wx9q09oa&t=5173

Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai/

Harvey Tenet Research Preview: https://www.harvey.ai/blog/post-training-update-harvey-tenet

Fireworks AI: https://fireworks.ai/

Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai/

Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com/

Nvidia Jetson Thor: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/autonomous-machines/embedded-systems/jetson-thor/

OpenAI shares Wind golf cart clip: https://www.tiktok.com/@openai/video/7645336713472134431

Starlink Mini: https://starlink.com/mini-product-us?srsltid=AfmBOorzM7arxhdzYAdDpH6RGD4LLg9WV_BFnEoLuYieuHuGSCjQTE1Y

Toro mowers: https://www.toro.com/

404 Media: https://www.404media.co/

Punchbowl News: https://punchbowl.news/

Semafor: https://www.semafor.com/

Skift: https://skift.com/

Newcomer: https://www.newcomer.co/

Deirdre Bosa on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@deebosa

Electrek: Genesis GV90 review: https://electrek.co/2026/08/20/genesis-gv90-luxury-coach-doors-images/

Toyota Alphard gallery: https://global.toyota/en/mobility/toyota-brand/gallery/alphard.html

The Clash "London Calling" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfK-WX2pa8c

Timestamps:

0:00 What is Jason's Grok Bot up to?

5:17 Systems over goals

9:43 Superhuman - Superhuman Go is an AI chat that's always there when you need it, already aware of what you're doing, and doesn't ask you to start from zero. Sign up to get the best in AI at https://Superhuman.com

13:08 OpenAI will go public soon

14:19 Top line ARR matters way less than churn

20:43 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

29:55 Lightfield - Name one person who's ever enjoyed updating a CRM. Exactly. Lightfield's AI agent does it for you — it even prospects and books your meetings. Used by thousands of startups. Free at https://lightfield.app

30:52 Harvey launches Tenet

34:32 "Open source is going to win it all"

35:58 Allan Guo of Willow joins

39:18 Managing a single source of truth across a team

47:00 Lon and Jason love the Toyota Alphard

51:00 Stanford student and AV expert Ethan Goodhart joins

1:00:09 How Ethan got Jensen Huang to go for a ride

1:00:37 Punk Rock 101

1:06:24 Phoebe Gates' secret Harvard class

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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