Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based artificial intelligence startup founded by former Google researchers, has successfully raised $30 million in a seed financing round. The funding was led by Lux Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures. The company aims to position Tokyo as a prominent AI hub, similar to the achievements of OpenAI in San Francisco and DeepMind in London.
Lux Capital partner Grace Isford emphasized Sakana AI’s goal of making fundamental improvements to current AI systems through the utilization of multiple smaller models rather than relying on a single large model. Last year, the company shared with Reuters its intent to develop AI models specifically tailored for the Asian market, as Asian character-based languages function differently from Western languages.
Brandon Reeves, a partner at Lux Capital, highlighted the under-exploration of Asian languages due to the focus on Western languages when developing large language models. Recognizing this gap, Sakana AI aims to address the unique characteristics and complexities of Asian languages.
Sakana AI’s founders, David Ha and Llion Jones, both previously worked as researchers at Google. Jones was the fifth author of Google’s 2017 research paper Attention Is All You Need, which introduced the influential transformer deep learning architecture. This architecture later became the foundation for the popular generative AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT.
The departure of all the authors from the Attention Is All You Need paper has led to the establishment of various well-funded ventures. Notably, Noam Shazeer, who is spearheading AI chatbot startup Character.AI, and Aidan Gomez, the founder of large language model startup Cohere, have invested in these new ventures.
Lux Capital, known for its specialization in deep technology investments, focuses on industries such as aerospace, AI, and biology. The recent funding secured by Sakana AI reflects the growing interest and support for innovative AI projects.
With Tokyo’s rising prominence as an AI hub, Sakana AI’s successful funding round marks a significant step towards further advancements in the field. The company’s dedication to improving AI systems and developing language models suited for the Asian market positions it as a key player in the industry’s ongoing progress.
In summary, Sakana AI, founded by ex-Google researchers David Ha and Llion Jones, has secured $30 million in seed funding to propel Tokyo’s growth as an AI hub. The company seeks to enhance AI systems through collaboration among smaller models and plans to develop models tailored for Asian character-based languages. The support from Lux Capital and Khosla Ventures underscores the industry’s recognition of Sakana AI’s potential.
