Igor Babuschkin raises $1 billion for River AI
XAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin is raising up to $1 billion for his new AI research startup River AI at a valuation of up to $5 billion. General Catalyst is in talks to lead the round. The company was incorporated in Nevada on April 20, 2026. Babuschkin plans to commit up to $100 million of his own funds. The round is still in progress and forms part of a wave of large early-stage AI financings for research-focused entities.
#143David Pfau@PFAUThe entire NIH annual budget for neuroscience research - for all scientists across the entire US - is about $3bn a year. And now there are something like a dozen "neolabs" that have all raised O($1bn) within months of being founded, and they are all doing the same thing.
#143David Pfau@PFAUWe could fund so many different things with this money. Why are we putting it into the nth startup doing the exact same thing as the n-1th startup!!
David Pfau@pfauThe entire NIH annual budget for neuroscience research - for all scientists across the entire US - is about $3bn a year. And now there are something like a dozen "neolabs" that have all raised O($1bn) within months of being founded, and they are all doing the same thing.
#143David Pfau@PFAU@EMostaque Astera
Emad@EMostaque@pfau It's time for a neuroscience AI neolab clearly
#143David Pfau@PFAU@viemccoy Touch grass, man.
𝚟𝚒𝚎 ⟢@viemccoy@pfau I think the thesis is something like, only one needs to work out to create an explosion that would render all other industries (including neuroscience research) hundreds of times more efficient. It's betting on creating a universal force amplifier that is field agnostic!
#158Emad@EMOSTAQUE@pfau It's time for a neuroscience AI neolab clearly
David Pfau@pfauThe entire NIH annual budget for neuroscience research - for all scientists across the entire US - is about $3bn a year. And now there are something like a dozen "neolabs" that have all raised O($1bn) within months of being founded, and they are all doing the same thing.
#483Andrew Curran@ANDREWCURRAN_xAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin is raising for his new startup River AI.
Andrew Curran@AndrewCurran_xAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin is raising for his new startup River AI.
@pfau What are they all doing?
David Pfau@pfauThe entire NIH annual budget for neuroscience research - for all scientists across the entire US - is about $3bn a year. And now there are something like a dozen "neolabs" that have all raised O($1bn) within months of being founded, and they are all doing the same thing.
#1694𝚟𝚒𝚎 ⟢@VIEMCCOY@pfau I think the thesis is something like, only one needs to work out to create an explosion that would render all other industries (including neuroscience research) hundreds of times more efficient. It's betting on creating a universal force amplifier that is field agnostic!
David Pfau@pfauThe entire NIH annual budget for neuroscience research - for all scientists across the entire US - is about $3bn a year. And now there are something like a dozen "neolabs" that have all raised O($1bn) within months of being founded, and they are all doing the same thing.