Open or closed AI? Nvidia’s Nader Khalil and Sydney Sykes take on one of the decisions shaping next-gen startups at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

You have an AI product to build. Do you choose a proprietary frontier model and get moving quickly? Build on an open model and gain greater control? Fine-tune your own version? Run locally? Use multiple models? Change strategy six months from now when the economics and capabilities shift again?

There may not be one right answer. But for founders, choosing badly can affect almost everything that follows — cost, infrastructure, margins, differentiation, speed, and control.