Inflection AI, a startup founded by Mustafa Suleyman and Reid Hoffman, has raised $1.3 billion (RM 6.04 billion) in a funding round led by Microsoft and Nvidia. The investment values the one-year-old company at $4 billion (RM18.6 billion) and will be used to strengthen its computing power and develop a more powerful foundational model for its consumer-facing AI products, including the chatbot Pi.
CALIFORNIA, 4 July 2023 – Inflection AI, a startup founded by Mustafa Suleyman and Reid Hoffman, co-founders of Google DeepMind and LinkedIn respectively, announced today that it has secured $1.3 billion in funding from investors including Microsoft and Nvidia. This investment comes at a time of significant growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and values the one-year-old company at $4 billion.
Inflection AI recently launched its chatbot, Pi, which utilizes generative AI technology to engage with users through dialogue, enabling them to ask questions, provide feedback, and perform various tasks. With a focus on developing consumer-facing AI products, Inflection AI is recognized as a leading competitor to OpenAI.
The funding round, a combination of cash and cloud credit, will primarily be allocated towards enhancing computing power to develop a more robust foundational model. Inflection AI plans to build a cluster of approximately 22,000 H100s, which represents three times the compute power used to train all of GPT4. The company believes that this increased speed and scale will enable them to create a differentiated product.
“We are excited to leverage the support of our investors and partners to expand our capabilities and build a personal AI that empowers individuals to plan, schedule, gather information, and accomplish various tasks,” stated Mustafa Suleyman, CEO at Inflection AI, during the Collision Conference.
The AI industry continues to gain momentum as the next frontier in technology, especially following the viral success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Corporations are increasingly exploring ways to integrate AI into their businesses, while regulators are addressing the challenges associated with this technology.
Microsoft, an existing investor and backer of rival OpenAI, participated in Inflection AI’s latest funding round. Nvidia, a prominent player in AI investments, as well as Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, also contributed to the round.
With approximately 35 employees, Inflection AI previously raised $225 million in a first round of funding in early 2022 from investors including Greylock, Microsoft, and Reid Hoffman. The company recently released a report highlighting the superior performance of its model, Inflection-1, which powers Pi, outperforming many existing models.
