Start-Up Raises $1.3 Billion for an A.I. ‘Grid’
The New York Times • • business
Key Points:
- Leading AI companies like Amazon, Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI invest heavily in data centers to access massive computing power, leaving smaller organizations without resources.
- Amp, a Menlo Park-based startup founded by Anjney Midha, aims to democratize AI computing by purchasing excess data center capacity and sharing it with startups, universities, and other groups.
- Amp has raised over $1.3 billion from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator, and collaborates with AI startups like Periodic Labs and Eleven Labs to build and share AI models and resources.
- The coalition model allows members to pool demand for computing power, enhancing collective bargaining power with data center operators and enabling access that individual startups could not secure alone.
- Similar efforts to pool AI infrastructure are underway globally, such as Nvidia and Mistral's initiative to support European AI companies and reduce reliance on U.S. tech giants.