Nvidia- and Google-Backed SandboxAQ Raises $450 Million for Quantitative AI Platforms

SandboxAQ raised over $450 million in a Series E round to support its development of large quantitative models (LQMs) that help enterprises leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to solve scientific and quantitative challenges.

Since spinning out from Alphabet in 2022, the company has raised over $950 million, SandboxAQ said in a Friday (April 4) press release.

The company’s newest investors include Nvidia, Google, BNP Paribas, Horizon Kinetics and Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, according to the release.

Its quantitative AI platforms are currently used in biopharma, chemistry, materials science, cybersecurity and financial services, per the release.

“AI and advanced computing are having a powerful impact on financial services, and BNP Paribas Global markets is proud to be at the forefront of this trend,” Olivier Osty, head of corporate and institutional banking global markets at BNP Paribas, said in the release. “I look forward to working with SandboxAQ to explore innovative solutions at the cross-roads of AI and quantum technologies.”

The merger of AI with quantum computing could have significant implications for financial services and other verticals, Chris Hume, senior director of business operations for SandboxAQ, told PYMNTS in an interview posted in February 2024.

“The physical world is defined by quantum mechanics,” Hume said. “The more effectively we can understand those interactions and then model those interactions, the more efficiently and effectively you can build predictive models. With the algorithms that we’re developing combined with the classical computer hardware that’s available today, you can build better predictive models, and that’s the exciting part. And that’s the opportunity at hand.”

SandboxAQ originated at Alphabet in 2016 and was spun off in 2022 to independently offer firms AI and quantum computing software. It formed an independent company to develop quantum AI solutions for financial services, healthcare, computer security, the U.S. government and other computer-intensive sectors.

When SandBoxAQ raised more than $300 million in December, it was reported that the company works to stand out by adopting methods that differ from the approaches used by companies such as OpenAI. By running quantum physics algorithms on graphics processing units, it aims to move to more advanced machines.