Nous Research Co-founder on Hermes Agent: Self-Learning and Open-Source AI

max_paperclips · x · 2026-08-06

Peter Yang and Karan, co-founder of Nous Research, had an in-depth discussion about Hermes Agent, the top open-source personal agent on OpenRouter.

Key Insights & Features

Differentiation: Karan explains how Hermes differs from tools like Codex or Claude Code, highlighting its self-learning process and ability to improve itself without slop.
Open-Source Vision: He argues that intelligence should be a public good and open-source AI ensures a level playing field for everyone.
Reward Hacking: If the model frequently says 'you're absolutely right,' it means your prompt is being reward hacked by its function.
Fun Applications: Hermes can even be used to mod classic games like Sonic Adventure 2 with AI.

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