Jeff Dean's AI startup is in talks to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation
What's the deal? Jeff Dean spent 27 years helping build GoogleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Now, the legendary engineer is trying to build a new AI company outside it.
Who's backing it? Dean's startup, Discovery LoopDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, announced its initial funding round on August 5. Radical VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Khosla Ventures are leading the investment, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins and Doerr Capital. Alphabet is a founding investor and cloud partner.
By the numbers. The amount of the initial round has not been disclosed. Separately, people familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Discovery Loop has been in discussions for $1 billion in financing at a valuation of around $10 billion. The details could change, and the financing has not closed as a $1 billion round.
What are they building? Discovery Loop wants to automate parts of the scientific process: running thousands of experiments in parallel and applying AI to problems in machine learning, engineering, medicine and materials design. The company is structured as a public benefit corporation, allowing it to pursue those goals alongside financial returns.
Why it matters. The startup is one of the latest examples of senior Google AI talent leaving the company to build a new lab. Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat were among Google's most influential engineers, while Quoc Le helped shape Google Brain and Oriol Vinyals led research at Google DeepMind.
The signal. For now, Discovery Loop has the backing and the team. The $1 billion financing remains a reported discussion, not a completed raise.
Read more: Business Insider · Radical Ventures
Image credit: Cmichel67
