The world of generative AI is witnessing a surge in funding, with companies continuing to raise massive amounts of capital to fuel their commercial and open-source ambitions. A recent example is Together, a startup that has developed an open-source generative AI platform for developing and deploying AI models.
Together Raises $102.5 Million in Series A Funding
Together, which was founded in June 2022 by Vipul Ved Prakash, Ce Zhang, Chris Re, and Percy Liang, has announced that it has closed a $102.5 million Series A funding round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Nvidia and Emergence Capital. This significant investment brings the company’s total funding to over $150 million, with plans to use the funds to expand its cloud platform for developing and deploying open-source AI models.
The Importance of Open-Source Generative AI
According to Vipul Ved Prakash, co-founder and CEO of Together, startups and enterprises are looking to build a generative AI strategy that is free from lock-in to a single vendor. "Open source AI provides a strong foundation for these applications with increasingly powerful generative models being released almost weekly," he writes in a blog post on the company’s website.
Prakash emphasizes the importance of open-source generative AI, stating that it will have a long-range impact on human society and provide choice and options in the future. "The AI ecosystem will consist of proprietary models and open models, and it’s incredibly important that this future has choice and options," he notes.
Together’s Cloud Platform
Together’s cloud platform is designed to offer scalable compute at lower prices than dominant vendors such as Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure. The company claims to achieve significant reductions in cost of interactive inference workloads on large models by optimizing down the stack with thousands of GPUs located in multiple secure facilities.
Key Features of Together’s Platform
- Scalable Compute: Together’s platform offers scalable compute that can handle large-scale AI model development and deployment.
- Lower Costs: The company claims to offer lower costs than dominant vendors, making it an attractive option for startups and enterprises.
- Open-Source: Together’s platform is open-source, allowing developers to access the code and contribute to its development.
Challenges in Generative AI
While generative AI has seen significant investment and innovation, there are challenges that need to be addressed. One example is Stability AI, which was once a darling of VC firms but is now exploring a sale due to failing profits and financial woes.
Conclusion
The world of generative AI is witnessing significant investment and innovation, with companies like Together leading the charge. However, challenges remain, and it will be interesting to see how these companies address them in the coming months and years.
Future of Generative AI
As the field of generative AI continues to evolve, we can expect to see more innovative applications and breakthroughs. With the rise of open-source platforms like Together, developers and enterprises will have more options for developing and deploying AI models.
The future of generative AI is bright, but challenges remain. As we move forward, it’s essential to address these challenges and ensure that this technology benefits society as a whole.
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