# Dillon Rolnick

> Dillon Rolnick is the chief executive of Nous Research, an applied AI lab building open-source, human-centric language models and the decentralized Psyche training network. A Vanderbilt graduate who came up through quantitative FX trading at Effex Capital and founded the litigation-claims firm Crysknife Capital, he moved from finance into AI research leadership, helping steer Nous through a Paradigm-led $50M Series A and, by 2026, a reported $75M round near a $1.5B valuation. His focus is proving that world-class models can be trained openly and over the internet rather than behind the walls of a few large labs.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Nous Research
- **Organizations:** Nous Research, Crysknife Capital, Effex Capital
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Vanderbilt University
- **Known for:** Leads Nous Research, one of the most closely watched open-source AI labs., Helped steer Nous through a Paradigm-led $50M Series A (April 2025)., Oversaw the launch of the Psyche decentralized training network on Solana.

## Career timeline

- **2013-2017** — Studied at Vanderbilt University.
- **2017** — Worked in quantitative trading at Effex Capital, making markets in FX, metals, futures, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies.
- **2019** — Founded Crysknife Capital, focused on merger and litigation opportunities and purchasing class-action settlement claims.
- **2023** — Served as research lead at a large venture capital fund before joining Nous Research.
- **2024** — Helped Nous Research prove distributed pre-training, training a 15B-parameter model over a distributed setup.
- **2025** — Nous Research closed a $50M Series A led by Paradigm; Psyche testnet went live; Rolnick spoke at Akash Accelerate and Solana events.
- **2026** — Publicly identified as CEO of Nous Research; company reported finalizing a ~$75M round near a $1.5B valuation.

## Achievements

- Leads Nous Research, one of the most closely watched open-source AI labs.
- Helped steer Nous through a Paradigm-led $50M Series A (April 2025).
- Oversaw the launch of the Psyche decentralized training network on Solana.
- Contributed to what Nous describes as the largest verifiable over-the-internet pre-training run published pre-TGE.
- Built and ran Crysknife Capital, applying quantitative valuation to legal settlement claims.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Nous Research reported finalizing a roughly $75M round at about a $1.5B valuation, with Rolnick publicly identified as CEO.
- **2025-05** — Psyche testnet went live, extending Nous Research's decentralized training work.
- **2025-04** — Nous Research closed a $50M Series A led by Paradigm.

## Links

- Website: https://nousresearch.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dillon-rolnick-a29501128/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/DillonRolnick
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuMnBAr9oNM
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dillon.rolnick/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dillon-rolnick
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-20