Poolside CEO: Most Companies Should Avoid Building Foundation Models

Poolside's co-founder and CEO, Jason Warner, didn't hold back at the HumanX AI conference in Las Vegas. He's pretty clear that most companies should ditch the idea of building their own foundation AI models and focus on creating applications instead. After all, Poolside itself is an AI-powered software development platform, so he knows what he's talking about.

Warner told the crowd that he believes intelligence is as crucial as electricity, and if you don't get that, you've got no business messing with foundation models. He put it this way: "If you’re one of those people, if you want to take one side of the fence, you’re a printing press for cash unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the world. Or if the other side of the fence, you’re basically changing and bending the arc of humanity in a way that we’ve not done before. And I believe that to be true."

He went on to say that Poolside is literally chasing after AGI through their software. And if you're just looking at foundation models as a way to score some VC money, Warner suggests you should just slap a wrapper on an existing model and call it a day.

But here's the thing: Warner thinks that even if you're building a foundation model, it shouldn't be your whole product. It should be just a piece of it, especially as the competition heats up.

He said, "In my view, if I’m going to go build this type of business, I’m building on one side, going after intelligence on compute, I need to go after the hardest environment. You can’t do simple on one side and hard on the other. It doesn’t really make sense, because if you’re going to go for everything, go for everything."

That's why Poolside is tackling tough sectors like defense and working with the government. But don't worry, they've got plans to launch a consumer app down the line, too.

Poolside, based in San Francisco, was started in 2023 by Warner, who used to be the CTO at GitHub and a managing director at Redpoint, along with Eiso Kant, a serial founder. They've managed to raise over $620 million in venture funding and are now valued at a cool $3 billion.