Chess.com CEO on Building a $200M Bootstrapped Empire and AI's Future
No Priors · rss · 2026-08-13
Erik Allebest, co-founder and CEO of Chess.com, joined the No Priors podcast to share how he turned a domain bought from a bankruptcy sale into an empire with 250 million registered users and 10 million daily actives—without heavy initial external funding.
Allebest noted that while AI has long beaten humans at chess, technology has actually amplified the game's cultural relevance and community engagement. Looking ahead, he discussed how Chess.com leverages AI to optimize anti-cheat systems and enhance community products, while also sharing his predictions and investments regarding the arrival of AGI.
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