---
title: "Why Jan is betting on Open-Source"
description: "Why we're betting on open-source."
---

# Why Open-Source

AI today is concentrated in the hands of [a few companies](https://stratechery.com/2025/tech-philosophy-and-ai-opportunity/). They ask for trust, while keeping the levers of control hidden. We think that's a mistake.

When you depend on one vendor, your future is tied to their roadmap, their politics, their survival. If they get acquired, pivot, or shut down; you're stuck.  

Depending on a closed vendor means giving up more than flexibility:  
- Your tools only move when their priorities move
- Their pivots become your pivots
- Their acquisitions become your risks

AI has become critical infrastructure. Nations, enterprises, even small teams rely on it to think and decide. And yet, control sits with a few vendors who decide the terms of access. We believe that's not control. That's dependency dressed up as convenience. One of the most powerful invention is being steered by a handful of executives. Their values shape what billions can say, build, or ask. 

This can't stand. It must be changed.

## How we see

We don't believe the future of AI should be dictated by a few firms in San Francisco, Beijing, or anywhere else.

AI is revolutionary like electricity. And like electricity, it must be open. Not locked behind trust-me promises. Not steered by a handful of companies.  

That's why we're building Jan, a full product suite:
- Jan Models
- Jan on Desktop, Browser, Mobile, Web 
- Jan Server
- Hub, Store, evals, guardrails, the ecosystem around it  

The goal is to be the [open-source replacement for ChatGPT](https://jan.ai/) and other BigAI products, with models and tools you can run, own, and trust.