Learning should move with you.
Although I grew up in a Christian family, I had never read the Bible from beginning to end. One day, I decided to change that. I wanted to read all 66 books, but after long days at work, it was difficult to sit still with a book.
My body wanted to move. My eyes wanted to see the world. I didn’t want to sit in one place. I wanted to learn and live simultaneously.
I didn’t know it yet, but that desire would become the first spark of SUN.
So I built an experiment: a conversational AI modeled on Jesus, trained on texts from different Christian traditions, including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Gnostic writings.
At first, it worked like a conversation. I would ask a question, and the simulated Jesus would respond. But I soon realized that conversation alone felt like a game of ping-pong: I had to know what to ask next.
I changed the experience. Instead of waiting for my questions, the AI would give me lectures. I could listen and ask questions whenever curiosity arose. It became a more natural and Socratic way to learn: listen, think, interrupt, and go deeper.
I expanded the experience beyond Christianity. I began exploring Nietzsche, Immanuel Kant, Albert Camus, Buddhism, Taoism, Stoicism, analytical idealism, science, and many other fields.
The subjects changed, but the experience remained the same. I could listen while moving through my day and ask questions only when I needed them.
I began studying how people understand and retain information, drawing on ideas from Benjamin Bloom and the science of comprehension. My goal was not simply to generate information. I wanted to create learning experiences that were clear, engaging, and genuinely useful.
When I shared the idea with Cooper Bills, I described a growing collection of philosophical schools, thinkers, and traditions. People could choose a subject, listen to it, interact with it, and generate something new when they could not find what they were looking for.
Cooper asked me a simple question:
“What if people could generate whatever they wanted?”
That question opened a new universe for us. What began as a small experiment became something much larger: a place where anyone could explore any idea, follow any curiosity, and create what they wanted to hear. That was the moment SUN was born.
We began building SUN as a way for anyone to create personalized audio about any topic, idea, question, or book. Learning could be hyperpersonalized, interactive, and continuously updated.
We applied to the a16z Speedrun program, graduated from the SR006 cohort in April 2026, and launched SUN. Along the way, we were fortunate to receive support from investors, advisors, and friends who believed in the future of intelligent audio.
Over time, we realized that AI-generated content is only one part of the experience. In a conversation with Andrew Chen, another important question emerged:
“What if SUN wasn’t limited to generated content?”
That question helped shape the next chapter of SUN. We realized that the future of audio would bring together original work and personalized generation in one continuous experience.
Today, I see SUN as more than a generation platform. We are building a new way to consume audio: more personal, more current, and open to an unlimited range of subjects.
SUN brings together:
SUN is becoming a universe of audio: a place where ideas, voices, stories, and questions come together. You can enter with a single curiosity and follow it wherever it leads.
I started SUN because I wanted to learn without having to stop moving through the world. That remains at the heart of the company.
SUN is audio that moves with you, follows your curiosity, and gives you something meaningful to listen to wherever you are.
We are always looking for thoughtful, ambitious people who care about learning, audio, and the future of AI.
Artin Bogdanov, Co-founder & CEO
