Meet The Ex-OpenAI Guys Building A Cheaper Open Source Alternative

Forbes Daily Briefing · Sep 4, 2026 · 6m

Three Stanford friends-turned-OpenAI-colleagues left the AI behemoth to start an enterprise company that relies on open source models. Fifteen months later, the twenty-something founders are raising $350 million at a $3.25 billion valuation. Read the full story on Forbes:https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/09/01/applied-compute-openai-the-ex-openai-guys-building-cheaper-open-source-alternative/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices