River AI raises $1.1B led by General Catalyst two months after launch

In short: River AI says it raised $1.1 billion in an early funding round led by General Catalyst, just two months after it emerged publicly.

What happened

River AI is a new company founded by Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of xAI who has also worked at DeepMind and OpenAI. TechCrunch reports the company raised $1.1 billion in a seed and Series A round. The round was led by General Catalyst and AMP PBC, with participation from Nvidia, AMD Ventures, Y Combinator, and Temasek.

River AI says its long-term goal is to build “personal agents,” meaning AI helpers that are trained for one person and work in that person’s interest. Babuschkin described them as more like “guardian angels,” quietly helping in day to day life. He also said River wants to rebuild the full system behind AI, including how models are trained, the software people use, and even new hardware so the AI can “live close to you,” like having it run on your own devices instead of far away servers.

The company already sells an API, which is a way for other software makers to plug into River’s system (like using a power outlet instead of building your own generator). River says developers can train “open” AI models, meaning models that can be downloaded and changed, using methods like reinforcement learning, which is training by trial and error, and LoRA fine-tuning, which is a lightweight way to customize a model.

Why it matters

Big funding this early shows how much money is flowing into AI companies, especially those promising more control for customers. If River succeeds, it could make it easier for businesses and individuals to use AI that feels more personal and less like a generic tool that everyone shares.

Source: TechCrunch AI