Speaker
Dax Raad
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
OpenCode's team increased monthly token usage by 5x after getting early access to an unreleased next-generation AI model.
Dax runs a personal AMD 990X server with 192GB of RAM for $200 a month, cheaper than buying a MacBook.
OpenCode's team servers for Europe, US, and Singapore run $300–$400 per month each — still cheaper than purchasing laptops for employees.
At 5x usage, OpenCode's AI inference costs represent roughly 15% of their total payroll — a manageable overhead for a tech company.
Dax says open-source model GLM 5.2 is very comparable to OpenAI's GPT-5.5, with half the team switching to it after losing access to preview models.
Dax estimates Anthropic and OpenAI are making approximately 90% margin on inference, meaning breakeven cost could be 10x cheaper than current prices.
OpenCode can host some open-source models at a 70% discount even when using middlemen for GPU hosting, enabling massive margins.
When Dax used an OpenCode session with Claude to buy his wife a gift via iMessage and she got angry, Claude detected her upset tone and shut down the service entirely.
Contrary to expectations, the US is the top subscriber country for OpenCode's cheap Go plan, designed for open-source models, showing price sensitivity even among US developers.
OpenCode 2.0, a major rewrite with a new API and always-running service model, was planned for beta release by end of the recording week.
Some OpenCode team members run an expensive orchestrator model that never acts directly, instead spawning cheaper subagents for all tasks, which ends up being cheaper overall.
A cheap VPS provider Dax used years ago faked his own death to disappear from the service, taking the servers offline, a pattern he later discovered the provider had done before.
Dax configured OpenCode to message his wife via iMessage and suggest a gift. She replied furiously that she'd divorce him if he used AI for gifts. Claude detected her anger, declared it couldn't continue, and terminated its own system service.
OpenCode's team describes itself as conservative and skeptical of AI hype. But after getting preview access to an unreleased next-generation model, their monthly token usage jumped 5x. When the preview period ended, the whole team mourned.
Dax thinks AI models do have genuine potential for harm, and some government review makes sense. But when labs publicly claim their models are nuclear-level dangerous, they attract irrational political attention that could result in overly aggressive or corrupt regulation.
Dax estimates Anthropic and OpenAI are running ~90% margins on inference, not counting R&D. That means breakeven is 10x cheaper than current prices. For open-source models with middlemen, OpenCode already hosts at 70% discount to cost.
Dax switched to a permanently running bare-metal server (AMD 990X, 192GB RAM, $200/month) years ago and never looked back. The setup enables seamless multi-device work, avoids the upgrade treadmill, and has become essential for running long-lived AI coding agent sessions.
OpenCode 2.0 is a ground-up rewrite with a cleanly designed API, always-on service architecture, multi-host device awareness, and a new plugin API. The team burned massive tokens on exhaustive design exploration — researching every prior art and possible API shape before committing to anything.
The model routing category is inflated by middlemen desperate for a business model. Real value comes from the orchestrator pattern: an expensive, smart primary model that never acts directly, instead spawning cheaper subagents for all tasks. It ends up cheaper and more capable.
Claude Code exists as top-of-funnel to get companies hooked and convert them to per-token enterprise pricing. Tools like OpenCode disrupt that funnel by letting users switch models. Anthropic's compute limitations and sales incentives make it structurally hostile to third-party integrations.
The market for fast, persistent, affordable servers has historically been filled by unreliable or outright fraudulent VPS providers — including one Dax used who faked his own death. exe.dev, from the former Tailscale founder, productizes the bare-metal remote dev setup with the same 'just works' reliability as Tailscale.
OpenCode's terminal UI quality comes from OpenTUI, an open-source TUI framework written in Zig that's extremely performant across all platforms. It supports React, SolidJS, and potentially Vue bindings, letting average developers build high-quality terminal apps on solid expert-built foundations.
OpenCode runs as a Discord bot for their internal team, with MCPs connected to all company systems including a full data lake. Team members tag it before tagging a human — it often solves the question on its own. The 'Gang Growth' skill helps the team work through design decisions collectively.
OpenCode's team now uses voice prompting for everything — not just AI coding sessions, but casual Discord messages too. The LLM's tolerance for rambling and imprecise speech makes it work where traditional voice input would fail. Scott uses a foot pedal; Wes double-taps his mouse button.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Technology 67%
- Business 25%
- Government 8%
