Chatbot Arena secures $100m to enhance AI platform
Chatbot Arena, a platform designed to compare the performance of various AI models, has raised $100m in seed funding.
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and UC Investments (University of California), with participation from Lightspeed, Laude Ventures, Felicis, Kleiner Perkins, and The House Fund.
The round values the company at $600m, according to a Bloomberg report.
The funding coincides with the upcoming relaunch of LMArena, featuring a fully rebuilt platform designed to enhance AI evaluation with greater rigor, transparency, and user focus.
The platform, which originated as an academic project at UC Berkeley, enables researchers, developers, and users to assess how AI models perform in real-world scenarios.
More than 400 model evaluations have been conducted on LMArena, with more than three million votes cast, influencing both proprietary and open-source models from companies such as Google, OpenAI, Meta, and xAI, the company said.
LMArena co-founder and CEO Anastasios Angelopoulos said: "In a world racing to build ever-bigger models, the hard question is no longer what can AI do. Rather, it's how well can it do it for specific use cases, and for whom. We're building the infrastructure to answer these critical questions."
The relaunched LMArena, set to debut in late May 2025, incorporates community feedback and introduces a rebuilt user interface, mobile-first design, lower latency, and new features like saved chat history and endless chat.
Ion Stoica, co-founder and UC Berkeley professor, said: 'AI evaluation has often lagged behind model development. LMArena closes that gap by putting rigorous, community-driven science at the centre. It's refreshing to be part of a team that leads with long-term integrity in a space moving this fast.'
The company collaborates with model providers to identify performance trends, gather human preference data, and test updates in real-world conditions, aiming to develop advanced analytics and enterprise services while keeping core participation free.
'We invested in LMArena because the future of AI depends on reliability,' said Anjney Midha, general partner at a16z. 'And reliability requires transparent, scientific, community-led evaluation. LMArena is building that backbone.'
Jagdeep Singh Bachher, chief investment officer at UC Investments, said: 'We're excited to see open AI research translated into real-world impact through platforms like LMArena. Supporting innovation from university labs such as those at UC Berkeley is essential for building technologies that responsibly serve the public and advance the field.'
"Chatbot Arena secures $100m to enhance AI platform" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
33 minutes ago
- The Hill
China blasts US for its computer chip moves and for threatening student visas
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China blasted the U.S. on Monday over moves it alleged harmed Chinese interests, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas. 'These practices seriously violate the consensus' reached during trade discussions in Geneva last month, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement. That referred to a China-U.S. joint statement in which the United States and China agreed to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world's two biggest economies. But last month's de-escalation in President Donald Trump's trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington and Monday's statement showed how easily such agreements can lead to further turbulence. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. The Commerce Ministry said China held up its end of the deal, canceling or suspending tariffs and non-tariff measures taken against the U.S. 'reciprocal tariffs' following the agreement. 'The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations,' while China has stood by its commitments, the statement said. It also threatened unspecified retaliation, saying China will 'continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.' And in response to recent comments by Trump, it said of the U.S.: 'Instead of reflecting on itself, it has turned the tables and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts.' Trump stirred further controversy Friday, saying he will no longer be nice with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States. Hours later, Trump said in the Oval Office that he will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and 'hopefully we'll work that out,' while still insisting China had violated the agreement. 'The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,' Trump posted. 'So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' The Trump administration also stepped up the clash with China in other ways last week, announcing that it would start revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the U.S. U.S. campuses host more than 275,000 students from China. Both countries are in a race to develop advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, with Washington seeking to curb China's access to the most advanced computer chips. China is also seeking to displace the U.S. as the leading power in the Asia-Pacific, including through gaining control over close U.S. partner and leading tech giant Taiwan.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Not OK, computer: firms using AI to cut corners are playing with fire
The corporate world is agog. Ever since Eben Upton, the chief executive of Raspberry Pi, said he ran his annual results statement through AI before its publication, the talk has been of machines taking over the boardroom. The reaction to Upton's admission was astonishment. Raspberry Pi is stock market listed — these were its first full set of figures since flotation. They were eagerly awaited and, as with any quoted company, they were a closely guarded secret. Upton asked Claude, the AI bot designed by Amazon-funded Anthropic, to conduct a 'tone analysis'of the document, to say how it felt the microcomputer business was doing, on a scale of one to 100. Getting a so-so score, he set the computer to work. As the bot dialled up the language, the score improved. Too much, as it made his words seem breathlessly over the top. He made some improvements of his own, took out descriptions like 'exceptional' and reached an acceptable level. Eyebrows shot up on two counts. AI is a third-party, it's mechanical, susceptible to intrusion. It was not clear if he did but it is to be hoped Upton used a secure internal system. Then, there is the issue of the statement being entirely his — it is supposed to be his thoughts on the company's performance. Here he was, asking AI to look at what he planned to say. To be fair to Upton, he said in public what others may well be doing in private. Still, it was the most glaring instance yet of AI doing a boss's bidding. Others include a multinational senior executive freely saying he uses AI to draft his emails. An avatar of a CEO recently 'spoke' in a short video accompanying a stock exchange results announcement. Another corporate head told a tech conference how he uses AI to help prepare his speeches. While the software advances, the authorities stall. No regulation or guidance on AI's expansion and use is forthcoming. It is up to companies to make their own policies, not only to reap the benefits of AI but also to prevent a scandal and shareholder disaster. That is a worrying state of affairs. Specialist financial reporting and advisory consultancy Falcon Windsor teamed up with Insig AI, which delivers data infrastructure and AI-powered environmental, social and governance research tools, to look at the FTSE 350 companies. Their study, based on engagement with 40 firms and analysis of all FTSE 350 reports published from 2020 to 2024, revealed that generative AI use is multiplying across UK companies, often without any training, policy or oversight. They titled their report Your Precocious Intern, using the term to describe AI as useful but also a liability, the equivalent of someone who requires careful handling. While investors see the adoption of AI as inevitable and look forward to the advantages and efficiencies it could bring, they are increasingly alarmed about its implications for the truthfulness and authorship of corporate reporting. Everyone agrees that company reports and statements must remain the direct expression of management's thinking. Without rules and a common code, AI risks undermining the accuracy, authenticity and accountability that underpin trust in the stock markets. AI is moving so fast that there is only 'a short window of opportunity' to upskill and mitigate the risks it represents to the financial system. Their conclusion? 'Treat generative AI like a precocious intern: useful, quick, capable, but inexperienced, prone to overconfidence and should never be left unsupervised.' Claire Bodanis, a leading authority on UK corporate reporting and founder and director at Falcon Windsor, told The London Standard: 'If people use it unthinkingly, without proper training or guidelines, it could fatally undermine the accuracy and truthfulness of reporting.' Comments like these from two FTSE company secretaries should also be a warning. 'I think there are some real benefits in using generative AI as a summarising tool, and I'm quite keen to utilise it a bit more for efficiency if we can get comfortable with the accuracy of it,' said one. Another said: 'Would I be able hand on heart say that none of my contributors had used gen AI to provide the bit they've sent in? I have no idea.' Institutional investors are understandably afraid. As one told the researchers: 'I would be very wary about AI being used in forward[1]looking statements, or anything that is based around an opinion or a judgment.' Another said: 'I see generative AI as a flawed subordinate who's learning the ropes.' A third said: 'I feel very strongly that there should be a notification in the annual report if there's anything that has not been written by a human — there's no accountability through generative AI.' According to Bodanis, Raspberry Pi ought to act as a wake-up call. She asked: 'If a director gets AI to decide what is his or her opinion of their results based on what people are likely to think, then how is that honestly and truthfully their opinion?' History tells us, she said, what can happen. 'You think back to those stock market bubbles. Companies have to account to investors what they've done with their money and what they are going to do with it.' There must, said Bodanis, be 'a building of trust between a company and its shareholders'. One issue is the amount of material companies are obliged to produce. Annual reports that had grown to 80 pages, which felt huge, can reach 300 pages. That is because of the amount of non-financial reporting they must provide — on issues such as climate change, for example. If CEOs are using AI, it's difficult to decide what's true and what's not Claire Bodanis 'They are expected to use detail and opinion to create the truth of the state of the company,' said Bodanis. 'But if they are using AI, it is very difficult to decide what is true and what is not.' Just when corporate reporting is becoming 'ever more onerous and important', supplying all manner of information by law, along comes AI to make it easier. 'We should be using AI to do things humans can't do like crunch the numbers, not using it to do the things humans can do, like express opinions,' says Bodanis. A company report, she said, 'should be like looking the chairman in the eye and hearing it from them direct'. The slippery slope, too, is that distinction is lost. All company communications end up resembling each other — with the same wording and descriptions — when they are meant to be unique, coming straight from the top. The Financial Reporting Council, which regulates financial reporting and accounting, is dragging its heels, thinking about what to do about generative AI but so far not doing anything to police its rise. The FRC last got in touch with company boards about where it thought AI was heading in relation to results and reports some 18 months ago. That feels like a lifetime, such is AI's acceleration. As for companies uploading their sensitive figures to AI, Bodanis's point is succinct: 'AI has not signed an NDA. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
38 minutes ago
- Washington Post
China blasts US for its computer chip moves and for threatening student visas
TAIPEI, Taiwan — China blasted the U.S. on Monday over moves it alleged harmed Chinese interests, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas. 'These practices seriously violate the consensus' reached during trade discussions in Geneva last month, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
