Salesforce Leads Financing of AI Startup at More Than $4 Billion Valuation

Salesforce is leading a financing round of $200 million for Hugging Face, a startup that helps businesses use AI, at a valuation of over $4 billion, more than doubling the company's share price and private valuation.

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Relevant topic timeline:

7/26/2023

Sequoia, Lightspeed Fund AI Startups in Frenzied Back to Back Deals

- Foundry Technologies is in talks to raise money at a valuation of $350 million, a significant increase from its previous valuation of $50 million. - The increase in valuation highlights the trend of hot companies in the AI sector raising money at rapidly escalating valuations. - Foundry is one of many AI startups that have experienced a meteoric rise in valuation this year. - The company plans to rent servers to companies for running AI software. - The risky pandemic-era fundraising trend of rapidly increasing valuations in short periods of time has returned.

8/24/2023

Why a $4.5B AI unicorn just got funding from Salesforce, Nvidia, and Ashton Kutcher

Generative AI technology company Hugging Face has raised $235 million in series D funding, led by investors including Salesforce, Nvidia, and Microsoft, bringing its valuation to $4.5 billion as it aims to double down on team expansion and investments in open-source AI.

8/28/2023

IBM's CEO, who froze hiring for thousands of back office jobs and predicted AI would take up to 50% of new jobs, just piled into a $4.5 billion tech unicorn's massive new $235 million funding round

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has invested $235 million in the $4.5 billion AI startup Hugging Face, with IBM and Hugging Face already collaborating on AI tools and models, including a partnership with NASA.

8/30/2023

Generative AI startup AI21 Labs lands $155M at a $1.4B valuation

AI21 Labs, a text-generating AI startup, has raised $155 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total raised to $283 million and valuing the company at $1.4 billion, with plans to expand its workforce and accelerate its R&D efforts.

8/31/2023

Will the power of data in the AI era leave startups at a disadvantage?

AI has garnered immense investment from venture capitalists, with over $40 billion poured into AI startups in the first half of 2023, raising concerns about who will benefit financially from its potential impact.

9/2/2023

Ashton Kutcher Is Backing AI Company Hugging Face—Here’s His Net Worth

Actor Ashton Kutcher's venture capital firm, Sound Ventures, is investing in open source AI company Hugging Face, as part of a $235 million series D funding round, bringing Hugging Face's valuation to $4.5 billion.

9/11/2023

Salesforce donates $11M to SF and Oakland schools for AI education

Salesforce is donating $11 million to San Francisco and Oakland public schools to prepare students for careers in artificial intelligence, as part of a larger $20 million investment in education, aiming to advance students' digital skills and provide better access to tech and AI careers.

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Posted 8/22/2023, 9:04:00 PM