The a16z Show · Thursday, August 6, 2026
Simon Mo expresses skepticism about a significant capability gap between open-source AI models and frontier models in five years, noting that open-source is already a major industry shaper. He emphasizes that making frontier models accessible requires more than just releasing weights, but an entirely new infrastructure layer.
“Five years from now, open source AI models, have they closed the gap with frontier models? Capability wise, I don't really see a big gap.”
“Not even today because open source AI has become one of the most important forces shaping the industry.”
“But making frontier models available to the world requires far more than releasing model weights. It requires an entirely new infrastructure layer.”