the localhost:0004 | the escape hatch
Download MP3An escape hatch is the thing that lets you leave. You build on something that also works on somebody else's hardware, so your vendor can't lock you in.
Open weight models were supposed to be that hatch for AI. Download them, run them yourself, walk away whenever you want.
Then NVIDIA bought Hugging Face, the place everyone downloads them from.
Frank worked at Silicon Graphics in the '90s and says he's seen this movie before. Five of us argue about it for forty minutes: is the hatch still open, or did the company you'd escape from just buy the exit?
Plus what happened when we ran a 180 billion parameter model at home, and why one of us cancelled a $200 a month subscription.
(0:00) Cold open: I've seen this movie before
(2:18) The Rundown: NVIDIA closes the Hugging Face deal
(12:31) More from the week's news
(22:43) The Tension: is the escape hatch still open?
(27:46) Neil's counter: the ovens, the recipes, and the CUDA moat
(29:15) Robert flips it: a door instead of a hatch?
(30:10) The vote
(33:52) On My Device
(39:38) Wrap
the localhost is five tech industry veterans arguing about AI that runs on your own hardware. Open weight models, NPUs, home labs, and the question underneath it all: who controls intelligence, you or a data center? New episodes weekly.
thelocalhost.show
Open weight models were supposed to be that hatch for AI. Download them, run them yourself, walk away whenever you want.
Then NVIDIA bought Hugging Face, the place everyone downloads them from.
Frank worked at Silicon Graphics in the '90s and says he's seen this movie before. Five of us argue about it for forty minutes: is the hatch still open, or did the company you'd escape from just buy the exit?
Plus what happened when we ran a 180 billion parameter model at home, and why one of us cancelled a $200 a month subscription.
(0:00) Cold open: I've seen this movie before
(2:18) The Rundown: NVIDIA closes the Hugging Face deal
(12:31) More from the week's news
(22:43) The Tension: is the escape hatch still open?
(27:46) Neil's counter: the ovens, the recipes, and the CUDA moat
(29:15) Robert flips it: a door instead of a hatch?
(30:10) The vote
(33:52) On My Device
(39:38) Wrap
the localhost is five tech industry veterans arguing about AI that runs on your own hardware. Open weight models, NPUs, home labs, and the question underneath it all: who controls intelligence, you or a data center? New episodes weekly.
thelocalhost.show
