Realtime chat doesn't seem amenable to that type of optimization.
In any case, I don't think the problem here is primarily in the technologies being used; I wouldn't exactly call real-time video chat a solved problem (I'm sure there's room for plenty more optimizations in it over the next few decades), but at least as I understand it, it's definitely one for which there are plenty of available open-source stacks available.
The problem is in a) designing a robust protocol/API that can be implemented by many clients and servers (that fulfills my basic requirements above of "basically Discord, but not controlled by one company"), b) writing a solid reference implementation of both the client and the server, and c) (perhaps most importantly) getting other people to adopt it so it's more than just Failed Competing Standard #27.
