hi, I'm Alex

I'm a machine learning engineer based in London. Before startups I worked on RLHF for YandexGPT, the model behind an assistant with 55M monthly users. Outside work I'm into open source, self-hosting, strength training, travel, and gaming (WC3, Factorio, MK1, AoE2, WoW).

Contacts:

• alex@asmirnov.xyz
• github
• linkedin
• telegram

startups

• 2025-2026 Taxus: AI for US tax preparation, $115k ARR
• 2024-2025 Bluesight: geospatial foundation models, backed by Entrepreneur First
• 2023-2024 AskGuru: AI toolkit for customer support, backed by Pioneer (code | blog)

projects

• 2025 Logan: AI voice agent chasing overdue invoices
• 2025 SimTown: an interactive world with AI NPCs
• 2024 Laika the Dog: a Unitree quadruped doing household chores
• 2024 VRAM Calculator: estimating GPU memory for LLM training and inference, front page of HN (code | post)
• 2023 Doppelganger: fine-tuning an LLM on my Telegram messages, front page of HN, 220+ stars, talks at ODS DataFest and DataStart (post)

posts

• 2024 Is Entrepreneur First worth the time?
• 2023 Breaking down GPU VRAM consumption
• 2023 Learnings from fine-tuning LLM on my Telegram messages
• 2023 The story of failing AI startup in 2023
• 2023 YC interview experience