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Jeff Bezos Leads $72M Investment in AI Data Firm Toloka to Fuel U.S. Expansion

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Jeff Bezos, through his personal firm Bezos Expeditions, is leading a $72 million funding round in Toloka, an AI data solutions company aiming to scale its global presence, particularly in the United States, Toloka told Reuters on Wednesday.

Toloka specializes in training and evaluating AI models using a global network of human experts and testers, providing high-quality data labeling and validation. The company is part of Nebius Group (NBIS.O), an AI infrastructure firm listed on Nasdaq and formerly affiliated with Russian tech giant Yandex.

The investment marks a significant milestone for CEO and founder Olga Megorskaya, who said the funding would accelerate product development by fostering collaboration between AI agents and human experts.

“There will always be the need for control, verification, and help from human experts to ensure that the result is actually of high quality,” she said.

Strategic Backing and Global Shift

The deal comes after Nebius successfully split from Yandex in a $5.4 billion exit from Russia, the largest corporate withdrawal since the 2022 Ukraine invasion. The restructuring allowed Nebius and Toloka to pursue Western capital without violating sanctions.

Other notable participants in the round include Mikhail Parakhin, CTO of Shopify, who will also serve as Toloka’s executive chairman. Parakhin emphasized the urgent global demand for trusted AI data solutions.

In late 2023, Nvidia invested in a $700 million private placement in Nebius, highlighting growing institutional interest in AI infrastructure and tools.

With this latest funding round:

  • Bezos Expeditions and other new investors gain equity

  • Nebius retains a majority economic stake, but gives up majority voting control, enabling Toloka to operate independently

  • A future funding round is anticipated, Megorskaya said

The investment underscores a broader trend of scaling AI companies focused on high-quality data pipelines, as tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Anthropic increasingly rely on curated training datasets for safe and effective AI model development.

Anthropic Allegedly Developing Voice Mode Feature for Claude AI

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Anthropic is reportedly working on a highly anticipated voice mode feature for its AI chatbot, Claude. The company, based in San Francisco, is expected to launch the new feature as early as this month, marking a significant shift for the AI firm. While competitors like OpenAI and Google have already integrated voice capabilities into their chatbots—such as ChatGPT’s voice feature and Gemini’s similar tool—Claude has so far only offered text-based interactions. This move comes shortly after Anthropic introduced an educational subscription plan, mirroring OpenAI’s Edu offering, signaling the company’s broader push into more dynamic AI tools.

The new voice mode feature is expected to be rolled out gradually, with a Bloomberg report suggesting that the feature could begin rolling out in April. Initially, it will be available to a select group of users, with plans possibly subject to change. The inclusion of voice capabilities would place Claude on a more competitive footing with its peers, allowing users to interact with the AI in a more natural, conversational manner. The voice mode is likely to make the AI experience more immersive, combining the capabilities of voice recognition with Claude’s advanced text-based responses.

According to sources familiar with the development, the feature will include three distinct voices: Airy, Mellow, and Buttery. Notably, Buttery is expected to feature a British accent, adding a unique element to the AI’s vocal range. The discovery of this feature was first noted by an app researcher named “M1Astra,” who found clues about the voices in the code of Claude’s iOS app. However, details about the voice mode remain sparse, and it is unclear whether the feature will serve as a basic text-to-speech function or if it will feature more advanced, human-like voice synthesis, akin to ChatGPT’s more sophisticated voice interaction system.

Anthropic’s delayed entry into the voice chatbot arena comes as major players in the AI space, including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, have already rolled out voice-based features. Meta, too, is reportedly developing a two-way voice chat mode for its Meta AI, further intensifying the competition. As Anthropic looks to add this new functionality to Claude, it will be interesting to see how the feature stacks up against the already established voice capabilities of its rivals. The feature’s availability to all users or its potential restriction to premium subscribers is also yet to be determined, leaving room for further speculation about the company’s future plans.

Anthropic Enhances Claude AI with Web Search Integration

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Anthropic has officially introduced web search functionality for its AI chatbot, Claude, marking a significant upgrade to the platform. Since its launch in March 2023, Claude has relied solely on its internal knowledge base and lacked access to real-time internet information. With this new update, the chatbot can now fetch the latest information across web, mobile, and desktop applications. Currently, the feature is available in preview mode and will only be activated when Claude determines it is necessary.

In a newsroom post, Anthropic highlighted that this update makes Claude more competitive in the AI chatbot space. Previously, it was the only major AI chatbot without internet access, whereas rivals such as Gemini, ChatGPT, Meta AI, Copilot, and DeepSeek had already integrated this capability. The company had initially defended its decision to keep Claude “self-contained,” arguing that it reduced the risk of misinformation and ensured more reliable responses. However, with growing demand for real-time data access, Anthropic has now shifted its approach.

The web search functionality enables Claude to look up recent events and retrieve the latest information, potentially improving the chatbot’s accuracy for time-sensitive queries. According to Anthropic, the feature is currently being tested with paid subscribers in the United States. The company also plans to expand it to more countries and eventually make it available to free-tier users. To access the feature, users must select the Claude 3.7 Sonnet AI model from the model picker menu in the text box, navigate to profile settings, and toggle on the web search option.

One key limitation of the new feature is that users cannot manually trigger web searches. Instead, Claude will autonomously decide whether a query requires internet access. While this approach aligns with Anthropic’s focus on responsible AI use, it remains to be seen how well the chatbot balances self-contained knowledge with real-time data retrieval. As the AI landscape evolves, this upgrade positions Claude to better compete with its internet-enabled counterparts.