Multiverse Computing pushes its compressed AI models into the mainstream | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. With private company defaults running at upward of 9.2% — the highest rate in years — VC firm Lux Capital recently advised companies relying on AI to get their compute capacity commitments confirmed in writing. With financial instability rippling through the AI supply chain, Lux warned, a handshake agreement isn’t enough. But there’s another option entirely, which is to stop relying on external compute infrastructure altogether. Smaller AI models that run directly on a user’s own device — no data center, no cloud provider, no counterparty risk — are getting good enough to be worth considering. And Multiverse Computing is raising its hand. The Spanish startup has so far kept a lower profile than some of its peers, but as demand for AI efficiency grows, this is changing. After compressing models from major AI labs, including OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and Mistral AI, it has launched both an app that showcases the capabilities of its compressed models and an API portal — a gateway that