Liquid AI has raised $250M to advance its liquid foundation models
Liquid AI, a startup focused on the development of liquid foundation models (LFM) that are efficient and flexible alternatives to the now-standard generative pre-trained Transformer models, has raised a $250M Series A funding round led by AMD that gave the company a $2B valuation.
An MIT CSAIL spinoff founded by Ramin Hasani, Mathias Lechner, Alexander Amini, and Daniela Rus, Liquid AI emerged from stealth a year ago with $46.6M in seed capital and a mission to develop foundation models that are more resource-efficient and capable than generative pre-trained Transformers, the current paradigm of artificial intelligence and machine learning models. Unlike pre-trained Transformers, which are loosely based on the architecture of the human brain, liquid foundation models are inspired by roundworms' brains, which have far fewer neurons than human brains.
Liquid foundation models (LFM) have two remarkable features: their compact footprint and small number of neurons make them more interpretable than traditional generative AI models, enhancing the transparency and safety of the systems that include them; and the fact that they interpret sequential data rather than static snapshots makes them more flexible and adaptable than traditional models. In short, LFMs have the necessary features to develop private, secure, and efficient systems for varied applications. This is the aspect of LFMs that Liquid AI aims to commercialize to build a profitable business.
Recently, Liquid AI announced it has secured $250 million in a Series A led by AMD. This new milestone in the startup's journey will help it unlock its goal. Liquid AI will partner with AMD to optimize its models for AMD's hardware. In parallel, the startup expects to incorporate its technology in offerings for different sectors including consumer electronics, telecommunication, financial services, e-commerce, and biotechnology. Liquid AI also plans to invest the raised funds to strengthen its research and development efforts.
