Startup River AI, founded by xAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin, has raised $1.1 billion to expand tools that help clients build personalized AI models on their own data. The round was led by General Catalyst and AMP PBC, with strategic investment from Nvidia and AMD Ventures, plus participation from Y Combinator and Temasek.
River AI's product suite lets enterprises train AI models on their own proprietary data, moving beyond the off-the-shelf offerings from major AI labs. The company's thesis holds that the enterprise market will migrate toward privately owned, open-weight models tailored to each organization's specific needs.
The company did not reveal a valuation figure for the round. River AI's positioning targets businesses that want greater control over their AI systems, rather than relying only on general-purpose models from major AI labs.
The company said on Tuesday it has raised the funds, with the capital earmarked for expanding River AI's suite of enterprise-focused products. The involvement of Nvidia and AMD Ventures signals significant hardware-industry interest in the company's approach to customized model training.
