Latest news with #TudorAchim
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'You Never Want To Take The Highest Offer': Robinhood CEO's AI Startup Raises $100M, Hits $875M Valuation With Backing From Kleiner Perkins
Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev is stepping beyond trading apps with a new venture: Harmonic AI, a startup aiming to create what it calls "mathematical superintelligence." The company last month announced the closing of a $100 million Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to $875 million. Tenev co-founded Palo Alto-based Harmonic in 2023 alongside CEO Tudor Achim, a former executive at autonomous driving company Though he is not running the company day to day, Tenev serves as executive chairman, Bloomberg reports. Don't Miss: —with up to 120% bonus shares—before this Uber-style disruption hits the public markets $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. Harmonic AI says the round was led by Kleiner Perkins with major backing from Paradigm, and included Ribbit Capital along with existing investors Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Charlie Cheever. The startup closed a $75 million Series A round last year led by Sequoia Capital, with significant participation from Index Ventures and additional backing from GreatPoint Ventures, Era Funds, Blossom Capital, DST Global partners, Elefund, Nikesh Arora, and Jared Leto. A Math-First AI That Promises No Hallucinations and Full Verification Tenev said the company's near-term goal is to build AI that solves complex math problems better than any human. The long-term vision includes solving unsolved mathematical problems and expanding the approach to fields like physics and computer science, Bloomberg reports. Trending: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — Unlike OpenAI or Google's large language models, Harmonic emphasizes formal logic and mathematical reasoning over natural language training, which the company says helps eliminate the risk of hallucinations often seen in chatbots. "We can ensure that every piece of output and every step in our model's reasoning is verifiably correct," Tenev told Bloomberg. "That is just a very different approach to building AI models that I think is going to be the approach that dominates in the future." According to Harmonic, Aristotle has already shown measurable improvement. In tests using the MiniF2F benchmark, the model's score increased from 83% to 90% in a single month. "Aristotle's MSI is uniquely suited for mission-critical applications where there is no margin for error, such as generating verified software and by formally verifying existing code – a breakthrough for industries including blockchain, financial services, aerospace and other safety-sensitive systems," Achim said in a statement.'You Never Want to Take the Highest Offer': Why Tenev Chose a Sub-Unicorn Valuation Despite having the investor interest to cross the $1 billion valuation mark, Tenev said he intentionally stopped at $875 million. "You never want to take the highest offer," he told Bloomberg, adding that optimizing for valuation is not the right move for a startup with long-term scientific ambitions. According to Inc., Elon Musk recently told Y Combinator's AI Startup School that digital superintelligence could arrive this year or next. Tenev, who pursued a Ph.D. in math at UCLA before co-founding Robinhood, is now pushing toward advanced AI in a similar timeframe. As the company scales its team and expands access to its flagship AI system, Aristotle, Harmonic is continuing to recruit engineers, researchers, and builders who want to push the boundaries of verified reasoning, according to its website. Read Next: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article 'You Never Want To Take The Highest Offer': Robinhood CEO's AI Startup Raises $100M, Hits $875M Valuation With Backing From Kleiner Perkins originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
South China Morning Post
11-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Robinhood CEO's AI maths start-up valued at US$875 million, just shy of unicorn status
Harmonic AI, an artificial intelligence start-up co-founded by Robinhood Markets chief executive officer Vlad Tenev, has raised US$100 million in funding to tackle a problem that has sometimes confounded AI models: maths. The series B funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Paradigm. The deal valued the AI start-up at US$875 million, said Tenev, who serves as the company's executive chairman, a non-operating role. Harmonic's CEO is Tudor Achim, who previously led autonomous driving start-up Founded in 2023 by Tenev and Achim, the Palo Alto, California-based start-up aims to build AI systems that can solve complex maths problems, creating what the company refers to as mathematical superintelligence. Harmonic plans to make its flagship AI model, Aristotle, available to researchers and the general public later this year. 'The near-term goal is to build an AI that solves maths problems at a level that is superior to any human,' Tenev said. 'The ultimate goal would be to solve major unsolved mathematical problems and expand that to problems in physics and computer science.'
Business Wire
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Harmonic Raises $100 Million Series B to Accelerate Development of Mathematical Superintelligence
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Harmonic, the artificial intelligence lab leading the development of Mathematical Superintelligence (MSI), announces a $100 million Series B funding round at a nearly $900 million post-money valuation. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins with significant participation from Paradigm. Additional investors included Ribbit Capital and existing backers including Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Charlie Cheever. The funding will accelerate Harmonic's momentum at the frontier of mathematical reasoning and its rapid progress towards commercializing its flagship model, Aristotle. Unlike language-based AI prone to hallucinations, Aristotle's use of MSI verifies accuracy, ensures coherent logical reasoning, and transparently flags errors and inconsistencies. As a result, Aristotle replaces probabilistic guesses with provable solutions in high-stakes, real-world applications. 'Aristotle's MSI is uniquely suited for mission-critical applications where there is no margin for error, such as generating verified software and by formally verifying existing code – a breakthrough for industries including blockchain, financial services, aerospace and other safety-sensitive systems,' said Tudor Achim, CEO of Harmonic. Aristotle's MSI model is designed to solve mathematical problems at a level far exceeding human capabilities. By accelerating mathematics, the doors open to driving breakthroughs across multiple dependent fields, including theoretical physics and engineering. 'We're getting closer to AI that can truly reason – quickly, reliably, and at scale,' said Vlad Tenev, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Harmonic. 'Mathematical Superintelligence is moving from research to real-world applications, and we're excited for Aristotle to start putting this AI capability into the hands of users.' 'Harmonic has created a new foundation for verified, scalable reasoning that can be trusted in high-stakes environments. I'm deeply excited about the applications of Aristotle not just for software, but for accelerating progress across science, engineering and general intelligence,' said Ilya Fushman, partner at Kleiner Perkins and a former physicist who will join Harmonic's board as an observer. He joins existing board member Andrew Reed from Sequoia and existing board observer Jan Hammer from Index. Harmonic previously raised $75 million in its September 2024 Series A funding round, which was led by Sequoia Capital, included significant participation from Index Ventures, and received additional backing from DST Global partners and Nikesh Arora. About Harmonic Harmonic, an artificial intelligence company founded in 2023, is backed by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and led by CEO Tudor Achim. It is developing Mathematical Superintelligence (MSI), the next generation of artificial intelligence which is rooted in mathematics and which guarantees accuracy and eliminates hallucinations. The company is based in Palo Alto, California.
