How DoxxNet founder rethinks internet infrastructure with local AI and privacy

a16z's Joel de la Garza interviews DoxxNet founder Barrett Lyon about reimagining internet architecture. Lyon argues that traditional VPNs only partially solve privacy problems and that the internet's underlying protocols need rethinking as data tracking and AI capabilities grow more powerful.

DoxxNet is building a mesh network where users communicate peer-to-peer without routing through central servers, while also handling file transfers, calls, and messaging. The company runs its own infrastructure and processes AI locally rather than relying on third-party inference providers—a choice Lyon sees as critical to user privacy and independence.

Lyon draws on decades of infrastructure experience, from early DDoS defense to global network mapping, to argue that increasing ad-tracker surveillance and AI analysis create urgent reasons to decentralize.