Sentient, an open-source AI development platform, has successfully raised $85 million in seed funding. The round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, with contributions from Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, and several other investors.
According to the announcement on July 2, the new funds will be used to expand the engineering team and further develop Sentient’s open AI platform. Sentient aims to provide a platform where AI developers can monetize their open-source models and data, akin to other ecosystems like the Super Intelligence Alliance.
The company highlighted the current dominance of closed-source AI, which centralizes power among a few organizations. They argue that while open-source AI exists, it lacks sufficient incentives for developers to fully participate and benefit. Sentient’s goal is to address this issue by aligning economic incentives with open-source development, promoting the growth of open artificial general intelligence.
The startup is spearheaded by Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon; Pramod Viswanath, a Princeton professor and co-inventor of the technology behind 4G wireless; and Himanshu Tyagi, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science.
Joey Krug, a partner at Founders Fund, explained that Sentient aims to tackle the problem of unlicensed copying of AI models, which currently undermines the incentive for open-source contributions. Sentient plans to launch its testnet later this year.
The seed round also received support from Robot Ventures, Symbolic Capital, Dao5, Delphi, Primitive Ventures, Nomad, Hack VC, Arrington Capital, Hypersphere, IDG, Topology, Protagonist, Folius, Sky9, Canonical Crypto, Dispersion Capital, Mirana, Foresight, HashKey, Spartan, and others.
Decentralized AI Gains Momentum
The tech industry is seeing increased interest in startups that merge blockchain and AI technologies in 2024. Ora, a protocol aiming to tokenize AI models through its initial model offering, raised $20 million from Polychain, HF0, and Hashkey Capital in June. The protocol plans to use ERC-20 tokens to allow buyers to own and share revenue generated by AI models.
Venture capital funding for blockchain startups has surged recently. Galaxy Research data shows that investors poured $2.49 billion into 603 deals in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 29% increase in funding and a 68% rise in deal count from the previous quarter.
Summary Review: Sentient’s successful $85 million seed round highlights a growing trend towards decentralized AI development and the merging of blockchain and AI technologies. With strong backing from notable investors and a clear vision to address the current imbalance in open-source AI incentives, Sentient aims to revolutionize how AI models are developed and monetized. This funding comes at a time when the tech industry is increasingly focused on integrating blockchain with AI. The rise in venture capital investments, as seen in recent data, underscores the growing interest in startups that are advancing these technologies. Overall, Sentient’s initiative and the broader trend towards decentralized AI represent significant steps forward in making advanced technologies more accessible and economically viable for developers worldwide.
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