By: Chiara Accardi
Jan Zoltkowski, the enigmatic founder of the AI startup JanitorAI, has been making waves in the tech world since his platform launched in June of last year. In an era where AI is predominantly focused on productivity and efficiency, Zoltkowski dared to venture into uncharted territory—AI for entertainment. His brainchild, JanitorAI, garnered over a million users within its first week, a testament to the untapped potential in this niche.
Zoltkowski’s journey in the tech world began long before JanitorAI. He made a name for himself in the open-source developer community, winning multiple hackathons hosted by HackerOne and EthGlobal. His technical prowess and innovative thinking caught the eye of many in the industry.
However, it was JanitorAI that truly put Zoltkowski on the map. The platform’s unique focus on engaging and realistic AI chats struck a chord with users, particularly women, who make up over 70% of JanitorAI’s user base. The average engagement time on the platform is remarkably high, a clear indication of the deep connection users form with their AI companions.
Behind the scenes, Zoltkowski and his team have been working tirelessly to improve the user experience. They’ve reworked their entire tech stack to handle the influx of millions of users and have deployed state-of-the-art language models on-premise, managing hundreds of GPUs. Zoltkowski’s technical expertise shines through in his approach to training these models. While initially fine-tuning open-source LLMs, he found better results by incrementally training models based on RNN architectures over transformers.
Moderation has been a significant challenge for JanitorAI, given that the entire site is user-generated content. Zoltkowski has tackled this head-on by utilizing tools like AWS Rekognition and a team of human moderators. It’s an uphill battle, but one that Zoltkowski is determined to win.
Despite the platform’s success, JanitorAI has not been without its controversies. The startup received a cease and desist letter from OpenAI for violating their terms of service. However, Zoltkowski remains undeterred. He sees this as an opportunity to innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in entertainment.
When asked about the lessons he’s learned on this journey, Zoltkowski’s advice is simple yet profound: “Focus on building a product users crave and build in public in front of your community. Reply to all support requests. Community is your biggest moat.”
Looking to the future, Zoltkowski’s vision for JanitorAI is ambitious. He aims to make the platform the hub for all things entertainment and AI, much like how ChatGPT is for productivity. With his technical expertise, innovative thinking, and unwavering dedication to his users, Jan Zoltkowski is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in the world of AI.
As the lines between reality and virtuality blur, platforms like JanitorAI raise important questions about the role of AI in our lives. Are chatbots the future of entertainment? Can AI provide the deep, meaningful connections we crave? These are the questions Jan Zoltkowski and his team at JanitorAI are trying to answer. And if their success so far is any indication, they may very well hold the key to the future of AI entertainment.
Published by: Khy Talara
