What happened
Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based AI research and development firm, secured $135 million in Series B funding, elevating its valuation to $2.65 billion. This investment, among Japan's largest AI rounds this year, will accelerate R&D, strengthen industry partnerships, and facilitate strategic investments. The company develops energy-efficient, nature-inspired AI models, including the 'Continuous Thought Machine,' for the Japanese market, with existing partnerships in finance and expansion into defence and manufacturing.
Why it matters
The investment, partly from In-Q-Tel, and Sakana AI's expansion into defence and manufacturing sectors, introduces an increased due diligence requirement for procurement and IT security teams. This raises the oversight burden for evaluating potential data sovereignty, intellectual property, and supply chain security implications when integrating AI solutions from this provider, particularly for organisations with international operations or sensitive data.
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