Substrate Launch: the API for modular AI
Feb 6, 2025 · 5:20
Rob Cheung, co-founder of Substrate, presents the platform as a new approach to building AI applications using modular intelligence rather than monolithic models. Substrate combines a developer SDK for describing computation graphs over multiple AI nodes with an inference engine optimized for running these graphs efficiently, reducing latency between nodes to microseconds—10,000 times faster than typical API dispatching. Cheung argues that modular systems are more legible, debuggable, and extensible, enabling higher quality outcomes through explicit decision trees and easier evaluation. The platform offers best-in-class JSON mode for multi-inference runs and supports modalities like image generation, speech transcription, text, embeddings, and code execution. Substrate is designed for developers to run 10-20 AI modules on a single user request at scale, solving the infrastructure problem that currently limits multi-step AI workflows.
