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AI Startup Humans& Raises $480 Million at $4.5 Billion Valuation in Seed Round

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Artificial intelligence startup Humans& has raised $480 million in a seed funding round, valuing the company at about $4.48 billion, highlighting strong investor appetite for next-generation AI labs founded by experienced researchers.

The round was led by SV Angel and co-founder Georges Harik, with participation from Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and Alphabet’s venture arm GV. Nvidia has become a prominent backer of AI startups as demand for its chips continues to surge.

Humans& was founded by former researchers from OpenAI, Alphabet, and xAI, and is developing human-centric AI tools designed to improve communication and collaboration. The company expects to launch its first product early this year.

Chief executive Eric Zelikman said the technology is designed to coordinate with people and other AI systems to help users work more effectively together. The founding team also includes alumni from Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and Meta, underscoring the depth of expertise behind the new venture.

Perplexity Secures $200 Million at $20 Billion Valuation, Report Says

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AI startup Perplexity has finalized commitments for $200 million in new funding, giving the company a valuation of $20 billion, according to The Information. The report, citing a source familiar with the matter, has not been independently confirmed by Reuters, and Perplexity did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity has been rapidly positioning itself as a challenger in the AI space. The company, backed by Nvidia, has developed Comet, an AI-powered browser capable of performing tasks on behalf of users.

In August, Perplexity made headlines with a bold but unsuccessful $34.5 billion unsolicited cash bid for Alphabet’s Chrome browser — an offer nearly double its current valuation. If accepted, the deal would have given Perplexity access to Chrome’s three billion users worldwide, dramatically expanding its reach and strengthening its position against competitors such as OpenAI, which is also building an AI-first browser.

The new funding round signals strong investor confidence in Perplexity’s strategy, even as the company looks to scale up amid intensifying competition in AI-driven consumer technology.

AI Startup Cohere Valued at $6.8 Billion in Latest Fundraising, Hires Meta Exec

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Canadian AI startup Cohere raised $500 million in its latest funding round, pushing its valuation to $6.8 billion as it targets enterprise AI expansion. The round was led by Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital, with participation from AMD Ventures, Nvidia (NVDA.O), PSP Investments, Salesforce Ventures, and other existing investors.

Unlike broad AI models from OpenAI or Meta’s Llama, Cohere focuses on enterprise-specific AI solutions. Co-founder Nick Frosst said the new funding will help the company expand globally, explore different AI modalities—including its recently launched Command Vision model—and continue building secure AI tools for businesses.

Cohere also appointed two senior executives: Joelle Pineau, former VP of AI Research at Meta (META.O), as chief AI officer, and Francois Chadwick, ex-Uber and Shield AI executive, as chief financial officer. Pineau led Meta’s Fundamental AI Research group until May 2025.

Earlier this year, Cohere launched North, a ChatGPT-style tool designed to assist knowledge workers with tasks like document summarization. The company plans to use the funding to develop agentic AI aimed at improving operational efficiency for businesses and government agencies.

The fundraising comes amid a broader surge in AI investment, with private equity firms and Big Tech pouring capital into startups to capture returns from innovative AI technologies.