Agreed, this is what's infuriating: insistence on control.

They will utterly fail to build for a community of users if they don't have anyone on-hand who can tell them what a terrible idea that was

To the cofounder: hire someone (ideally with some thoughtful reluctance around AI, who understands what's potentially lost in using it) who will tell you your ideas around this are terrible. Hire this person before you fuck up your position in benevolent leadership of this new field