Remember that brainy chap, David Ferrucci? You know, the head honcho behind that know-it-all supercomputer, IBM Watson? Well, he’s back in the spotlight, big time! Our guy Dave’s new AI venture, Elemental Cognition, just raked in a whopping $60 million! That ain’t small potatoes!
Hold onto your hats, ’cause there’s more! On August 17th, the word on the street was that they’d wrapped up equity deals to the sweet tune of nearly $60 mil. Yep, from a whopping 17 backers! And guess what? They’re not stopping there. They’ve got their eyes set on another cool $5.75 million. Talk about ambition!
So, where’s this AI magic happening? Right in the heart of the Big Apple, in the swanky Helmsley Building. Elemental Cognition is on a mission, my friends. They’re cookin’ up some state-of-the-art chatbots, Cogent and Cora, that cater to a mixed bag of needs. Think finance, helping you plot your next vacay, or even turbocharging scientific research.
And oh boy, their hybrid AI platform! It’s like giving AI a jolt of caffeine. Marrying large language models with a reasoning engine, this baby’s designed for spot-on and controlled chitchat. They’re not all talk, though. Dive deep into their LinkedIn and you’ll spot them boasting about a revolutionary Generative AI platform. Fancy, right?
Now, Dave ain’t flying solo. He’s roped in some big guns, former bigwigs from IBM and Bridgewater. Think David Shepler, Eric Brown, and Mike Barborak. Plus, they’ve got heavy hitters like Jim Breyer and Sam Palmisano cheering from the sidelines.
If you’re scratching your head, wondering about Ferrucci’s creds, here’s a quick lowdown. This genius spent nearly two decades at IBM and even helmed the AI ship at Bridgewater Associates. His pièce de résistance? Steering the IBM Watson ship to victory on Jeopardy! Yep, that was him showing off Watson’s smooth talkin’ skills.
But hey, not all that glitters is gold. Despite the big dreams, IBM Watson took a bit of a nosedive. Fast forward to 2020, and IBM handed over the Watson Health baton to Francisco Partners. However, it seems they’re trying to make a comeback with their new gig, WatsonX.
But here’s the juicy part. With the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT making waves, the appetite for AI startups is soaring sky-high. And Dave’s Elemental Cognition? They’re out to dazzle with top-notch AI that gets you, whether you’re solving a riddle or diving deep into research.
Whew! That’s a whole lotta AI action, right? Keep those peepers peeled, ’cause this story’s just getting started! 😉🚀
