Sat down with @0xDeltaHedged [ Cofounder of @OpenGradient ]. He worked at NASA, Google, Two Sigma, Palantir... had a career people dream of. left it all to build something bigger. Conversation started with AI and data privacy. but ended with an answer we've all been asking: who owns your digital life? Verifiable AI, data ownership, the future of agentic commerce... we went deep on all of it. it's a kind of founder conversation that reminds you why this space exists. Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro: No one should trade a lifetime of memories for AI output 00:32 — Welcome to the Base Show + Matthew's background 01:06 — NASA → Google → Two Sigma: the psychological shift to building 02:43 — What is Open Gradient? Making AI verifiable explained simply 04:10 — Is the data privacy threat real? The Cambridge Analytica parallel 05:28 — Cursor's Chinese AI model controversy & hidden threats 06:42 — "No one should trade a lifetime of memories for AI output" 07:37 — MemSync: aggregating your digital footprint privately 08:06 — Is decentralized AI actually decentralized? The Bittensor debate 09:01 — OPG token launch: what it unlocks 10:22 — Traction: 4,000+ models, Sentient, Flock, Filecoin partnerships 12:02 — Breaking it down for the average Joe: how OPG protects you 13:34 — The HTTPS standard for AI: Open Gradient's endgame 15:14 — Can everyday builders fight AI monopolization by big tech? 16:33 — The aha moment: DeFi was primitive, ML could fix it 18:21 — Uniswap research grant: reducing impermanent loss 1,670% annually 19:47 — Who's backing Open Gradient: a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Ilya, Sandeep 21:14 — The next 12 months: mainnet, decentralization, model incentives 22:51 — Why agentic commerce isn't hype — but also isn't ready yet 26:16 — Sahib's marketing agency moment: how do you market TO agents? 28:33 — The Virtuals partnership and Titan Launch Program explained 31:00 — How verifiable AI makes agentic commerce trustworthy 33:22 — Matthew's personal AI stack: Opus, Codex, Kimi K2.5 36:13 — The belief Matthew got wrong: LLM intelligence would plateau 38:46 — Dark truths of AI: job replacement and sycophancy 42:14 — The most dangerous company in AI centralization (his answer may surprise you) 44:14 — Will decentralized AI win — or is big tech going to dominate? 46:23 — One piece of advice for young builders entering AI 50:01 — Speed and relationships: the only real moat left 53:30 — Token launch week: the vibe on the ground in Seoul 55:00 — Closing thoughts + follow-up in 4-6 months Enjoy the podcast.

"Give Big Tech your memories, your money, your private thoughts, just to use their AI." That's the deal most people don't realize they're signing. My next guest is doing something about it. @0xDeltaHedged Wang ex NASA, Google, Two Sigma is building @OpenGradient (backed by a16z & Coinbase) to take AI away from Big Tech and hand it back to you. Full ep dropping soon. Here's a taste below !