The AI world keeps trying to tell us it's either closed or chaotic. But then Nous Research strolls onto the scene and reminds everyone: it's possible to be both open and elite without losing your soul, or your edge.
Born in the back alleys of Discord servers and sharpened by minds who don’t ask permission, Nous isn’t just another AI lab. Jeffrey Quesnelle (CEO), Karan Malhotra (Head of Behavior), Teknium (Head of Post Training), and Shivani Mitra (Co-founder) didn’t climb out of some cushy VC lab or corporate incubator. They built things the way a real band makes its first album: raw, loud, and too good to ignore.
Now, they’re stacking $65 million in funding, with a $1 billion token valuation tagged to their name like a mixtape that blew up before it hit Spotify. Paradigm is leading the Series A charge with a $50 million bet that decentralization isn’t just a now word, it’s the next foundation. Heavy hitters like Together AI’s Vipul Ved Prakash, Raj Gokal from Solana Foundation, and investors from North Island Ventures, Delphi Digital, OSS Capital, and Balaji Srinivasan saw it too.
So what’s Nous really cooking? Hermes models that have been downloaded over 50 million times, powering more than 120 real-world applications across X, Telegram Messenger, Discord, and gaming platforms. Not a sandbox. Not a science fair project. Actual use, actual traction, actual teeth.
Their secret sauce? The Psyche Network, an open decentralized AI training platform rolling out on Solana, using DisTrO tech that slashes inter-GPU chatter by up to 10,000x. This isn’t theoretical, it’s working. It’s live. It’s creating a world where your compute power isn’t stuck making meme coins or mining outdated dreams, but training the next generation of human-aligned language models.
Let’s talk facts: 15,000+ community members (and growing), livestreamed model training for full transparency, open-source licensing that gives a middle finger to centralized lock-in, and infrastructure partners like Oracle, Lambda Labs, Crusoe, and Northern Data Group making sure they’re playing on a global field, not a rented sandbox.
In a market overrun by glass towers and closed doors, Nous is throwing open the windows, blasting a new soundtrack, and building something that doesn’t just play by new rules, it refuses to accept there ever were any. From the YaRN method adopted by Meta and DeepSeek AI, to the DeMo paper published with OpenAI co-founder Diederik Kingma, this team isn’t talking about changing the game. They’re already on another field.
Let’s connect and keep the momentum going across the tech ecosystem. Whether you’re a founder shaping the future, a leader driving change, a VC backing bold ideas, or an investor spotting the next big thing—together, we’re pushing boundaries. Proud to be building the future with you.
Let’s connect on LinkedIn and keep the conversation going.