A former top researcher at Google's DeepMind division has announced a $1.1 billion seed funding round for his startup, Ineffable Intelligence, which is now valued at $5.1 billion.
The company, founded in late 2025 by David Silver, a former lead of DeepMind's reinforcement learning team, is focused on the development of superintelligence.
The funding round marks a record for seed-stage capital in the AI space.
The semiconductor industry is closely watching the implications of this development, as AI research and deployment increasingly rely on advanced chip architectures.
The funding could signal growing investor confidence in AI-driven innovation and its potential to reshape computing and data infrastructure.
The move also highlights the ongoing competition for talent and resources in the AI and semiconductor sectors.