--- title: "About ModelPiper & Founder Ben Racicot" description: "ModelPiper is a one-person studio building local-first AI tools for macOS. Founder Ben Racicot designs and ships every layer — Swift apps, inference backends, web app, and MCP server." canonical: "https://modelpiper.com/about/" --- # About ModelPiper & Founder Ben Racicot > ModelPiper is a one-person studio building local-first AI tools for macOS. Founder Ben Racicot designs and ships every layer — Swift apps, inference backends, web app, and MCP server. ![ModelPiper](model-piper-logo-sm.svg)ModelPiper [Back to Home](/) # Press & Media Brand assets, company information, and press resources ## Logo & Brand Assets ![ModelPiper logo](model-piper-logo-sm.svg) ![ModelPiper logo on light background](model-piper-logo-sm.svg) [Download SVG](model-piper-logo-sm.svg) [Download PNG](modelpiper-logo-sm.png) Use the logo on a dark or light background. Don't alter the colors, stretch, or rotate. Leave clear space around the logo equal to the height of the "M" mark. ## About ModelPiper ModelPiper is a local-first AI platform for macOS. It lets developers and power users build, run, and chain AI tools entirely on their own hardware — no cloud accounts, no per-token billing, no data leaving the device. The platform includes a visual pipeline builder, a native macOS inference engine (ToolPiper) with 147 MCP tools, browser automation, self-healing test recording, voice AI, screen capture, and audio mixing. The product suite runs on Apple Silicon and ships as free Mac App Store apps plus a free web interface. All AI processing — LLM inference, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, OCR, pose detection, and image upscaling — runs on-device using llama.cpp, Apple Intelligence, CoreML, and Metal GPU. ModelPiper is headquartered in the United States and is an independent, bootstrapped company. Copy-paste friendly. No approval needed for factual press coverage. ## Founder ### Ben Racicot Founder & Lead Engineer Ben Racicot is the founder and lead engineer of ModelPiper. He designs and builds every layer of the platform — from the Swift macOS apps and inference backends to the Angular web interface and MCP server protocol. Before ModelPiper, Ben spent over a decade building web and native applications, with a focus on real-time systems, developer tooling, and performance engineering. ModelPiper grew out of a conviction that useful AI tools shouldn't require cloud subscriptions or giving up your data. Ben built it because the tools he wanted didn't exist: a local inference engine that works like a platform, not a chatbot. [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/benracicot) ## Product Suite ![ToolPiper icon](press/toolpiper-icon.png) ### ToolPiper Mac App Store Native macOS AI engine. Bundles local inference via llama.cpp and Apple Intelligence, 147 MCP tools, browser automation, self-healing test recording (PiperTest), RAG, voice AI, video upscaling, and an OpenAI-compatible API. One install replaces Ollama + Open WebUI + multiple MCP servers. [Mac App Store →](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/toolpiper/id6759183503?mt=12) ![ModelPiper icon](model-piper-logo-sm.svg) ### ModelPiper Web App Free Visual AI pipeline builder in the browser. Drag-and-drop blocks for LLMs, vision models, TTS engines, and custom logic. Streams data between steps as it arrives. Supports Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. [modelpiper.com →](https://modelpiper.com) ![System Actions icon](press/actionpiper-icon.png) ### System Actions Built into ToolPiper macOS desktop automation via voice. Push-to-talk dictation, natural language commands, clipboard intelligence, and AI-powered snippets. 26 action domains covering audio, display, Bluetooth, Finder, windows, and more — 142 actions total, all built into ToolPiper. ![VisionPiper icon](press/visionpiper-icon.png) ### VisionPiper Mac App Store Screen capture with live AI streaming. Capture any region, record H.264 video, export GIFs, and stream frames to vision models at 30fps over WebSocket. A steerable camera for your screen. [Mac App Store →](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/visionpiper/id6740513090?mt=12) ![AudioPiper icon](press/audiopiper-icon.png) ### AudioPiper Mac App Store Multi-source audio capture and mixing. Per-app audio via Core Audio Taps — no virtual drivers, no kernel extensions. Record from any app and stream to ToolPiper for real-time transcription. [Mac App Store →](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/audiopiper/id6742693498?mt=12) ![MediaPiper icon](press/mediapiper-icon.png) ### MediaPiper Browser Extension Browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Hover any image or video for instant full-size preview with intelligent discovery, on-device AI upscaling, video controls, and 40+ keyboard shortcuts. [Chrome Web Store →](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/mediapiper/gknkckkachhflfmhdiaeaomacceechnb) ## Press Releases [ Give Claude 147 macOS Superpowers with One MCP Server April 9, 2026 ](/blog/mcp-tools-claude-macos-toolpiper)[ Local AI Agents on Mac: Build and Run Without the Cloud March 2026 ](/blog/local-ai-agents-mac)[ Run an MCP Server Locally on Mac March 2026 ](/blog/mcp-server-local-mac)[ Run a Local OpenAI-Compatible API on Mac March 2026 ](/blog/local-openai-api-mac) [View all articles →](/blog) ## Key Facts Founded 2025 Headquarters United States Funding Bootstrapped Platform macOS (Apple Silicon) Products 6 apps — ToolPiper, ModelPiper, VisionPiper, AudioPiper, MediaPiper, CodePiper Pricing Free tier with Pro upgrade ($9.99/mo) Website [modelpiper.com](https://modelpiper.com) ## Social & Community [ GitHub Community discussions ](https://github.com/BenRacicot/modelpiper-community/discussions/1)[ LinkedIn Ben Racicot ](https://linkedin.com/in/benracicot) ## Media Contact For press inquiries, interview requests, or additional assets: [press@modelpiper.com](mailto:press@modelpiper.com) © 2026 ModelPiper. 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