On July 2, open source AI development platform Sentient announced it has raised $85 million in a seed funding round co-led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures. This significant investment will play a crucial role in advancing Sentient’s mission to democratize artificial intelligence technology.
Diverse Group of Strategic Investors
The funding round attracted a broad array of strategic investors, including Ethereal, Robot Ventures, Symbolic Capital, Dao5, Delphi, IDG, Primitive Ventures, Nomad, Hack VC, Arrington Capital, Hypersphere, Topology, Protagonist, Folius, Sky9, Hashkey, Canonical, Dispersion, Mirana, Foresight, Spartan, and Republic, among others. The influx of capital will be utilized to accelerate the development of Sentient’s open AI platform, with a testnet slated for launch in Q3 of this year.
Plans for Talent Acquisition and Partnerships
Sentient aims to bolster its capabilities by hiring top-tier talent in AI research and blockchain engineering. Additionally, the startup plans to forge partnerships with leading academic institutions and industry stakeholders to enhance its technological offerings.
Core Team of Notable Contributors
Based in San Francisco, Sentient’s founding team—referred to as ‘Core Contributors’—includes prominent figures such as Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon; Pramod Viswanath, Forrest G. Hamrick Professor of Engineering at Princeton University and co-inventor of the technology behind 4G wireless; and Himanshu Tyagi, Professor of Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science. In highlighting the potential for transformation, Nailwal said, “The rapid advancement of AI has the potential to transform every aspect of our lives, but there are serious concerns associated with a small number of centralized institutions holding a large amount of power..”
Aiming for an Equitable AI Landscape
With this substantial investment, Sentient aims to lead the charge in creating a more equitable and accessible AI landscape, addressing the challenges of centralization and ensuring that AI benefits a broader audience.
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