Events / Seattle

Foundation Models Go Vertical | Ascend

Seattle panel 'Foundation Models Go Vertical,' Jul 27 at Ascend. Moderated by Boaz Ashkenazy, with OpenAI's Ben Gaffney, Mistral's Brian Hall, and Clarify CEO Patrick Thompson debating founders building atop foundation models.

Mon, Jul 27, 3:00 PMSeattle Waterfront, Seattle, WA

Why it matters

Hear directly from a foundation lab's legal counsel and a competing lab's CMO on whether the platform you build on will compete with you — a bet every vertical AI founder is quietly making.

The tokenmaxxing angle

Betting your product on one foundation model is also a pricing bet — labs change rates and rate limits unilaterally, so the 'will the lab eat my lunch' question is inseparable from your model-routing and multi-provider hedge strategy.

From the organizers

Panelists include Ben Gaffney (deputy general counsel at OpenAI) and Brian Hall (chief marketing officer at Mistral AI), moderated by Boaz Ashkenazy.