Former Google DeepMind Scientist Targets $4 Billion Valuation for New AI Lab

Former Google DeepMind scientist David Silver is raising $1 billion to build a new artificial intelligence lab, the Financial Times reported Tuesday (Feb. 17).

The seed round is expected to value the startup at $4 billion, not including the new investment, according to the report.

The round is being negotiated, and the terms could change, the report said.

Silver formed the startup, Ineffable Intelligence, late last year after leaving Google DeepMind, per the report. It will focus on Silver’s work in reinforcement learning, in which AI systems are trained through interactions with their environment rather than text.

Silver is also a professor at University College London.

It was reported in December that Silicon Valley AI startups raised a record $150 billion in 2025, surpassing the previous record of $92 billion set in 2021.

Cost pressures have led to more frequent funding rounds, as companies working on frontier AI models require massive amounts of computing power and chips.

PYMNTS reported Tuesday (Feb. 17) that several firms that embed AI in real operations, including robots, compliance and AI receptionists, raised a collective $1.45 billion.

These firms include Apptronik, which closed more than $935 million in Series A funding to scale its Apollo humanoid robot for commercial deployments; Runway, which raised $315 million for its AI video generation tools used by filmmakers, advertising agencies and enterprise marketing teams; Anterior, which raised $40 million to expand its AI platform embedded within health plans; Bretton, formerly known as Greenlite AI, which secured $75 million to modernize anti-money laundering and know your customer operations; Didero, which landed $30 million to automate procurement processes; Newo, which raised $25 million to expand its AI receptionist platform for small and midsize businesses; and Brandlight, which secured $30 million to help companies understand how AI systems interpret and surface their brands inside generative search and conversational interfaces.

Anthropic announced Thursday (Feb. 12) that it raised $30 billion in a Series G funding round that valued the company at $380 billion. Five months earlier, the AI startup was valued at $183 billion in a Series F funding round in which it raised $13 billion.

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