The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence announced Wednesday a new $30 million fund to support AI-focused startups, according to a report by GeekWire.
The Allen Lab was founded in 2014 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Since then, the organization has worked closely with artificial intelligence trends over his decade, welcoming over 100 researchers, engineers and business-minded people as newcomers to work on AI-related projects.
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Admittedly, $30 million in funding is a pretty modest amount, especially considering how generative AI startups have raised billions over the years. However, Allen Labs plans to use it to support 5-7 startups a year for 4 years. The startup will enter the pre-seed stage.
Four years ago, the Seattle-based Allen Institute launched its first $10 million AI2 incubator fund. The fund is now revived with his $30 million backing from venture firms including Sequoia Capital, Madrona Venture Group and Two Sigma Ventures.
Fund the AI topic
Since ChatGPT’s debut in November, many startups have started classifying themselves as AI startups, catching the latest technology buzzwords to attract venture capitalists. But Allen Labs focuses on very specific AI applications and startups built around AI, not the other way around.
These applications include generative AI that generates text and images based on prompts, similar to ChatGPT and Midjourney. Companies in the marketing and creative industries are leveraging generative AI as a way to brainstorm ideas and generate prototypes.
But perhaps more interestingly, Allen Labs is interested in domain-specific underlying models, AI trained on super-specific datasets for specific tasks.
In March, Nvidia announced a generative AI product that allows businesses to customize their chatbots and text-to-image platforms. This kind of technology could give way to generative AI, which is used specifically for drafting legal briefs in bankruptcy law firms, for example, or codifying doctors’ notes using certain medical terms. There is a nature.
In fact, according to Crunchbase data, AI-focused startups will raise more than $19 billion in 2023, up from the $42 billion the sector will raise in 2022. It means that it is progressing at a pace that surpasses nearby.
Illustrated by Dom Guzman
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