Tiles: Own your AI with local models and open protocols

As AI becomes central to how we work and communicate, I believe we’re seeing a new form of technological feudalism, where a handful of platforms control the models, identities, data, and distribution channels people depend on. Local-first AI offers an alternative, but many tools still lack the identity, sync, and collaboration features people expect.

In this talk, I’ll share what I’ve learned building Tiles, a local-first private AI assistant. I’ll discuss the tradeoffs I’ve encountered while combining local models with decentralized identity, peer-to-peer encrypted sync, and AT Protocol based collaboration. I’ll also cover exploratory research we’re conducting to bring the convenience of modern AI services to a user-owned stack.