For technical teams, the real shift here is operational: open models are moving from a lab artifact to something that can be treated like standard software. The practical win is not just availability, but a deployment pattern that lets developers run, version, and integrate models through a local app and API before deciding whether to keep inference on-device or move it into a managed cloud path.
That changes architecture choices. Local execution reduces dependence on external model endpoints, which can help with latency-sensitive workflows, offline development, and data handling constraints. But it also pushes responsibility inward: teams need to think about model packaging, hardware compatibility, update cadence, and how to keep behavior consistent between laptop, workstation, and cloud environments when the same application may traverse all three.
The hybrid inference angle is especially important for enterprise adoption. A local-first model workflow can support privacy-sensitive prototyping, while cloud execution can absorb larger workloads or more powerful models when scale is needed. The trade-off is governance: organizations will need clear controls for which models are allowed, where prompts and outputs may be stored, and how to align model choice with security, compliance, and cost expectations.
For platform and DevOps teams, the maintainability question becomes central. If open models are now part of the software stack, they need lifecycle management like any other dependency: release tracking, integration testing, observability, rollback planning, and an explicit ownership model. The long-term value comes from reducing friction without creating a new layer of hidden operational debt.
Michael and I first met in college, where we started our first company, Kitematic, which made Docker dead-simple to run. In 2015, it was acquired by Docker. There, our work became Docker Desktop, launched in 2016 and now used by over ten million developers around the world.
Ten years later, weโre back, building Ollama โ the easiest way for developers to get up and running with open models. Beyond our wildest dreams, Ollama has quickly become the leading platform to access open models, serving 8.9 million developers who, just like us, believe that AI should be yours to build, run, and make your own.
The personal computer moment for AI
Computing has been here before: the personal computer took the machine out of the mainframe room and put it on your desk โ yours to own, customize, and build with. Open models are now enabling that moment for AI.
A few years ago we watched as powerful new open models emerged. They were freely available to download, but it was hard to get them working. The power was there, but it wasnโt unlocked for developers who wanted to consume them the way they could access proprietary models behind an API.
So we got to work. With our team we shipped Ollama, an app you could download on your computer to get up and running with the latest open models in a single command, and build on them via a simple API. Ollama quickly became the place where developers could feel at home to discover the latest open models and learn how to put them to work.
With Ollama, running an open model became as easy as running any other piece of software: no permission, API key, or expensive server hardware required. Your model. Your machine. Your data.
AI that you own: personal & private
We built Ollama around three principles that matter most to our customers and community:
Ownership. Open models are yours to keep, customize, and optimize. Youโre never locked out of the models your agent or app depends on, and you have complete freedom to change them.
Affordability. Models that run on your own hardware donโt come with runaway per-token bills. You can experiment, iterate, and ship without worrying that every prompt is adding cost.
Privacy. With open models that can run locally, your data never has to leave your machine. When you do need to scale, you can carry that same trust into the cloud.
Scaling open models to solve the worldโs hardest problems
Open models arenโt an experiment or a research project anymore. Theyโre now running inside the largest companies in the world โ Ollama is used by 85% of the Fortune 500 โ and itโs just the beginning.
What started as the joy of running an open model on your computer for the first time has evolved into the drive to solve very difficult problems once reserved for proprietary models. Ollamaโs cloud is the most delightful way to access the most powerful open models: GLM, Nemotron, DeepSeek, Kimi, MiniMax and more. On average, Ollamaโs cloud has more than doubled in token volume every month, and we canโt wait to make it available to every team.
All in on open
Today, weโre announcing that Ollama has raised $88M from Peter Fenton at Benchmark, Tomasz Tunguz at Theory Ventures, Alex Kolicich at 8VC, along with Solomon Hykes (founder of Docker), Aaron Katz (CEO of ClickHouse), Spencer Kimball (co-creator of GIMP and co-founder of Cockroach Labs), Quinn Slack (CEO of Amp), Marianna Tessel (board of directors, Cisco), Michael Montano (former head of engineering at Twitter), and Y Combinator, Garage Capital, Pace Capital, 49 Palms, GTMFund, and many other incredible angel investors.
This funding is fuel for whatโs ahead. Ollama sits front and center in the open model ecosystem, and we intend to push it forward as hard as we can: seamless hybrid inference, support for new open models the day theyโre released, and a cloud that lets any developer and their team reach the most powerful models without giving up ownership or privacy.
None of this happens without the people behind the models. Thank you to the teams releasing powerful, openly available models and moving the entire field ahead. Our job is to make their incredible work effortless to run for everyone and to keep it open.
Weโve stood at the beginning of a shift like this once before, betting that open and easy would win. Weโre betting on it again, with everything weโve got.
Itโs time to drive open-source AI forward. All aboard.
To get started, download Ollama and start building with open models:
ollama
Thank you to everyone whoโs run a model, filed an issue, built an integration or shipped something with Ollama. We love hearing your feedback. Weโre only here because of you.
โ Jeff & Michael
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