Artificial intelligence startup Symbolica has raised $31 million in a series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst, Abstract Ventures, and Buckley Ventures. Symbolica aims to challenge OpenAI’s ChatGPT with its new AI system, which utilizes an alternative deep learning architecture to the popular transformer model. Symbolica CEO George Morgan explained that while transformers have been widely used in the AI industry, there are limitations and challenges that need to be addressed.
“The transformer is not the end-all-be-all of AI,” said Morgan. “What’s happening in the industry now is hacks on hacks on hacks.” He believes that simply scaling transformers by increasing compute power and training data may not lead to significant improvements in AI performance. Symbolica believes that exploring different architectures of foundation models can produce better results.
Symbolica plans to launch its first product, a coding assistant, in early 2025. However, the company needs time to hire and train its model before the official release. The coding assistant aims to enhance developers' productivity and efficiency by providing intelligent code suggestions and solutions. Symbolica is confident that its alternative AI system can offer unique capabilities that will set it apart from existing offerings in the market.
Symbolica’s approach aligns with a broader industry sentiment that challenges the limitations of transformers in terms of costs, scalability, and reliability. Christopher Kauffman, a partner at General Catalyst, stated, “The industry broadly is contending with the limitations of transformers, whether it’s the costs required to scale them or their reliability.” Symbolica’s alternative architecture may provide a solution to these challenges and offer a new direction for the future of AI development.
The funding secured by Symbolica will further support the company’s research and development efforts, allowing it to refine its alternative architecture and train its models more effectively. With the backing of prominent venture capital firms, Symbolica is well-positioned to take on the competition and make its mark in the AI industry.
As the field of artificial intelligence continues to advance, it is crucial for innovative companies like Symbolica to push the boundaries and explore new possibilities. By challenging the status quo and offering alternative approaches, Symbolica aims to create AI systems that can surpass the limitations of existing models. With their coding assistant as the first product on the horizon, it will be interesting to see how Symbolica’s alternative AI system performs and how it might shape the future of AI development.
In the words of George Morgan, “What we’re envisioning is a new era of AI, one that goes beyond the current limitations and truly realizes the full potential of artificial intelligence.” With the funding and resources in place, Symbolica is ready to embark on this exciting journey and pave the way for a future where AI capabilities are even more remarkable.
Use the share button below if you liked it.