London-based Stanhope, which is developing AI models aimed at mimicking the processes of the human brain, has secured $8m in funding in a round led by Frontline Ventures.
Other investors in the round include Paladin Capital Group, Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, UCL Technology Fund and MMC Ventures.
Stanhope, which was founded in 2023, is developing “world models”, systems that can understand the physical world instead of merely generating text like today’s large-language models (LLMs).
World models are designed to be used in industries that benefit from simulating real, shifting environments, such as autonomous vehicles, defence, robotics and gaming.
In December, former Meta chief scientist Yann LeCun quit the tech giant to launch AMI Labs, a new AI startup focused on world models, viewed by some as a promising alternative to LLMs.
“We’re moving from language-based AI to intelligence that possesses the ability to act to understand its world – a system with a fundamental agency,” said Professor Rosalyn Moran, cofounder and CEO of Stanhope AI.
Stanhope’s brain-inspired system allows machines to learn and adapt on the go, which the company says is a crucial capability missing from LLM-based systems that rely on large static data sets.
Stanhope says its models can be used to power autonomous drones and robotics systems.
Other companies focused on developing world models include Yann LeCun’s new venture, AMI Labs, and World Labs, the AI startup founded by Stanford professor Fei-Fei Lee, another leading computer scientist.
