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AI's Next Leap: Social Intelligence, Not Just Smarts
23 Jan
Summary
- New startup Humans& focuses on AI for social intelligence and collaboration.
- Raised $480 million seed funding from top AI researchers and investors.
- Developing a novel AI model architecture for teamwork and communication.
A new startup, Humans&, founded by former researchers from leading AI labs like Anthropic and Google DeepMind, has secured a substantial $480 million seed funding round. The company aims to pioneer a new era of AI by developing models with social intelligence, designed for team collaboration rather than individual task completion. This initiative marks a significant shift from current AI capabilities, which are largely limited to single-user interactions.
The core ambition of Humans& is to build a foundation model architecture that excels at managing the complexities of human collaboration. This includes coordinating diverse priorities, tracking long-term decisions, and fostering team alignment. The startup envisions its technology acting as a central nervous system for a future economy where humans and AI work together more effectively.
Unlike existing AI that focuses on information retrieval or code generation, Humans& is developing AI trained on multi-agent reinforcement learning and long-horizon tasks. This approach enables the AI to plan, act, and revise over time, mirroring human collaborative processes. The goal is to create AI that can communicate and collaborate effectively, enhancing both human-to-human and human-to-AI interactions.
The company's strategy involves co-evolving its product alongside the model, ensuring that the user interface and AI capabilities grow together. Humans& intends to own the collaboration layer, aiming to provide a foundational technology that can integrate across various organizational structures, from large enterprises to small family units.
