Ineffable Intelligence, an artificial intelligence startup founded by former Google DeepMind researcher David Silver, has raised a record US$1.1 billion (A$1.53 billion) in seed funding.
Silver previously led the reinforcement learning team at DeepMind, Google’s AI arm, before founding Ineffable Intelligence last year. The company’s seed round was the largest ever in Europe, it said.
Ineffable’s goal is “to make first contact with superintelligence”, according to seed round co-leader Sequoia Capital.
The company has said it plans to train its agents using reinforcement learning, which includes practical experience, rather than with pre-existing human data like many other major AI models.
“Ineffable is building what David calls a superlearner: a system that discovers all knowledge directly through its own experience, from elementary motor skills to profound intellectual breakthroughs,” wrote Sequoia.
The seed round was also co-led by Lightspeed, with Nvidia, Google, DST Global, Index, and the United Kingdom’s Sovereign AI fund participating. Ineffable is based in London.
Following the round, Ineffable said its valuation had reached $5.1 billion.
Recursive Superintelligence, another London-based startup founded by a former Google DeepMind engineer, had reportedly raised at least $500 million last week. AMI Labs, founded by former Meta AI head Yann LeCun, raised $1.03 billion last month.
