IBM, a global leader in technology and innovation, has announced a significant move in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with the launch of the IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund. This venture fund, backed by a substantial $500 million investment, is designed to support a diverse range of AI companies, from early-stage startups to hyper-growth enterprises, that are dedicated to advancing generative AI technology and research tailored for the needs of businesses.
The key differentiator of this fund lies in its unique approach and strategy. Drawing upon the wealth of domain expertise within IBM, the fund is poised to deliver not just financial support but also active guidance and collaboration opportunities. With a dedicated portfolio development team, the IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund will invest in current and future AI leaders. These investments will help these companies gain the upper hand in the competitive AI landscape and offer them valuable opportunities to partner with IBM, benefiting from operational expertise in product development, engineering, and go-to-market strategies.
IBM’s Impressive Track Record in AI
IBM has a long history of developing and delivering cutting-edge AI technology to organizations across the globe. The company is now capitalizing on the latest wave of AI innovation in generative AI, a technology that shows immense promise in transforming various industries. At the heart of this transformation is “watsonx,” IBM’s AI and data platform, which continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in AI.
The IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund is a strategic move to expand IBM’s ecosystem of AI partnerships. This includes collaboration with companies that leverage and build upon watsonx, creating long-term value for AI leaders as well as new and existing clients. As IBM Senior Vice President, Software and Chief Commercial Officer, Rob Thomas, aptly puts it, “AI is slated to unlock nearly $16 trillion in productivity by 2030. With the launch of the IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund, we’re opening another channel to harness the enormous potential of the AI revolution into tangible, positive outcomes for IBM and the companies we invest in.”
A Differentiated Approach to AI Investing
IBM’s commitment to promoting AI for business is evident through its recent investments in AI technology and companies. For instance, in August, IBM announced its participation in the $235 million Series D funding round of Hugging Face, a leading open-source collaboration platform for the machine learning community. IBM’s contributions to Hugging Face include hundreds of open models and datasets, such as the Geospatial Foundation Model in partnership with NASA. This initiative represents the largest geospatial foundation model on Hugging Face and the first-ever open-source AI foundation model developed in collaboration with NASA.
Hugging Face’s CEO, Clem Delangue, recognizes the significant impact of this collaboration, stating, “We’ve been thrilled to collaborate with IBM in democratizing AI. With hundreds of open models on the Hugging Face hub, they are significantly boosting the open-source ecosystem. This is the reason why we wanted to have them join our Series D round. I am convinced that they’ll be able to accelerate their impact on AI with the IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund.”
IBM’s commitment to AI security is equally commendable. The company recently participated in HiddenLayer’s Series A funding round, which focuses on expanding talent resources, strengthening go-to-market efforts, and furthering investment in its award-winning Machine Learning Security (MLSec) Platform. HiddenLayer is a cybersecurity provider specializing in protecting AI models and assets. This funding round marked the largest Series A funding raised by a cybersecurity company focused on securing AI this year.
Chris Sestito, CEO and Co-founder of HiddenLayer, appreciates IBM’s support, stating, “IBM’s commitment to progressing secure and responsible AI, access to global clients, and the scale of one of the most innovative companies in the world has made them the perfect partner to support us in driving the next stage of our business growth. Our partnership will help us bring our AI threat detection capabilities to the most cutting-edge companies in the world.”
Advancing Generative AI with watsonx
IBM’s latest initiative builds upon the momentum and market adoption of watsonx. This strategy aims to leverage both third-party and IBM’s own AI models to expedite open innovation in AI. In September, IBM unveiled the general availability of the first models in the watsonx Granite model series. This collection of generative AI models is intended to advance the infusion of generative AI into various business applications and workflows.
IBM has also confirmed that the standard contractual intellectual property protections for IBM products will apply to IBM-developed watsonx AI models. Earlier in the year, IBM announced plans to host Meta’s Llama 2-chat 70 billion parameter model within watsonx, furthering the company’s strategy of combining third-party and in-house AI models to foster open innovation.
IBM’s Sole Investment in the Enterprise AI Venture Fund
It’s important to note that IBM is the sole investor in the Enterprise AI Venture Fund. This decision underscores IBM’s unwavering commitment to driving responsible AI innovation and its dedication to helping organizations harness the transformative power of AI. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, IBM’s latest venture fund is set to play a pivotal role in supporting emerging AI leaders and enabling the broader adoption of generative AI across the enterprise sector.
