German artificial intelligence specialist Aleph Alpha has raised more than $500 million in a new investment round. With the money, the start-up says it can compete with OpenAI and large companies such as Microsoft and Google in the field of AI.
Aleph Alpha makes AI language models that can be compared to the ChatGPT tool from the American OpenAI. The company was founded in 2019 and wants to create AI programs that can be used mainly by governments and industry.
“With this latest investment, we will further expand our capabilities and enable our partners to be at the forefront of this technological development,” said CEO Jonas Andrulis.
Among the investors are venture capital group Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence, engineering giant Bosch Group and the retail and IT company Schwarz Group, which owns supermarket chain Lidl.
Founder Andrulis said on Monday when announcing the fundraising in Berlin that political leaders should not be too strict with the rules expected around AI: “We also need a few more players, not just referees.” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck was also present and called Aleph Alpha an “incredible success story.”
