Cisco Rolls Out $1 Bn Fund To Back AI Startups

Cisco launched a USD 1 billion fund aimed at investing in artificial intelligence (Al) startups on Tuesday, joining a growing list of technology giants eager to capitalise on the burgeoning Al sector.

The company revealed that its investment arm is channeling funds into promising startups including Cohere, Mistral Al and Scale Al. With nearly USD 200 million already committed, Cisco is positioning itself as an important player in the Al investment landscape.

Scale Al, a data-focused Al startup, is currently valued at approximately USD 14 billion. Meanwhile, foundation model developers Cohere and Mistral Al are reportedly in talks with investors to secure funding that would value each company at around USD 5 billion Foundation Al models, which are built using extensive data sets, have the versatility to be applied across a wide range of use cases, marking them as critical components in the Al ecosystem

Cisco's move follows the trend set by Microsoft-backed OpenAl, which ignited an Al frenzy in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT. Since then, other tech heavyweights like Meta and Amazon have also ramped up their investments in various Al startups, seeking to harness the transformative potential of Al technologies

Over the past several years, Cisco has made over 20 acquisitions and investments focused on Al, reflecting its commitment to advancing generative Al and machine learning.

(Inputs from Reuters)