OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap talks about what history teaches us about AI and the enterprise race

Lightcap — who joined OpenAI from Y Combinator in 2018 — double majored in economics and history in college. I am a firm believer that we are all, deep down, the same, and that understanding moments of tremendous change, looking back is a useful way to look forward. when I interviewed Lightcap for the Term Sheet Podcast I asked him what history could tell us about artificial intelligence today, and his answer surprised me.

“There are some things that are consistent (with previous technology cycles),” he said. “But AI is also weird in many ways… The reason I say that is because if you look at past technology cycles, there’s always been one type of innovation, right? Sometimes people call it the J-curve.”

He said that this is the model that academic Carlota Perez talks about in her book, Technological revolutions and financial capital: the dynamics of bubbles and golden ages. (He says it’s good for anyone looking for reading material.)

“Her point, basically, is that these (transformations) have actually happened very consistently, and that you can understand these things as a repeatable phenomenon,” Lightcap said. “AI is different because the substrate is constantly evolving. So, if you think of this as a roadmap from where we get to something closer to general intelligence, or superintelligence, or whatever you want to call it — the path is exponential but also continuous.”

This is a rapid rate of change, he said luckmaking it a great time for startups.

“When the game board gets shaken like that, there’s opportunity every day,” said Lightcap, who also leads the OpenAI Startup Fund. “Anyone who can figure out how to really live in that turmoil, live right on that border, and continue to move with the rising tide as this continues — I think you’re in a great place.”

This ultimately aligns with Lightcap’s direction in the enterprise AI race. Like any technology sector, there is of course pressure to innovate. But when it comes to AI and the enterprise, Lightcap says, everything is still new and evolving in real time.

“These transformations don’t happen overnight,” Lightcap said. “Organizations are giant, complex organisms. When we think about how we move forward in our research roadmap, we actually think along the lines of AI that is able to impact a large organization. We’re not there yet. We’re still in this era where you’re just starting to get models that can use tools and take action. They know how to solve problems intelligently and they can debug problem solving themselves, to some extent. But still There is a lot we have to build.”

Reflecting on how early it is in the enterprise AI story (but also in a statement that probably applies to AI in general), Lightcap put it simply: “We’re four seconds away from this whole transformation.”

See you Monday,

Allie Garfinkel
tenth: @agarfinks
Email: [email protected]
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Project deals

– reflectionan open source superintelligence lab based in Brooklyn, New York, has raised $2 billion in Series B funding from Nvidia, Subversive, for capital, Cityet al.

– Expedition Treatmentsa San Francisco-based company specializing in developing treatments for novel inflammatory and respiratory diseases, has raised $165 million in Series A funding. Sovinova Investments and novo Collectibles He led the tour and joined him Forbione, dawn Biopharmaet al.

– Goinga vehicle-secured credit card developer based in Dallas, Texas, has raised $50 million in Series B funding from Spice Expeditions, selfishness Projects, FPV Projects, Pelion Take risks Partnerset al.

– Sensi.AIan AI-powered senior care assistant pilot based in Austin, Texas, has raised $45 million in Series C funding. sand capital He led the tour and joined him vision Partners, Zeev Projects, entrance capital, Flint capitaland Sarcasm Projects.

– Rotifusiona financial infrastructure provider based in Austin, Texas, has raised $26.5 million in Series A funding. Pick Scan capital He led the tour and joined him Silverton Partners.

– institution healtha San Francisco-based developer of artificial intelligence technology for pharmacy operations, care coordination and direct patient delivery, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Defines Projects He led the tour and joined him Vanderbilt university, Intermountain Projectsand existing investors.

– CipherOwla San Francisco-based institutional cryptocurrency compliance platform, has raised $15 million in seed funding. general Catalyst and Thrive Projects He led the tour and joined him Coinbase Projects, Sanctus Projects, enlightenment capitalet al.

– Heoctavea San Francisco-based company that provides artificial intelligence technology to help small and medium-sized businesses automate and personalize customer experiences, has raised $15 million in funding. Vinod Khosla and Khosla Enterprises He led the tour and joined him Celesta Capital, Selections boxet al.

– Any teaman AI-powered sales operating system based in San Francisco, has raised $10 million in seed funding. SignalFire and Crosslink capital He led the round and was joined by angel investors.

– luggagea Portland, Oregon-based AI-powered digital product creation company, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. Builders VC He led the tour and joined him Crosslink capital, epic Projectset al.

– locationa London, UK-based crypto platform designed to defend against quantum-powered cyber attacks, has raised £7.5 million ($10 million) in funding. northern Greatstone He led the tour and joined him Amadeus capital Partners, Manta opinionet al.

– IsraelDover, Delaware, and Bogota, Colombia-based emerging market payments operating system, has raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Enterprises flourish and Cathy Latham He led the tour and joined him Atlantic And others.

– smaller.aia San Francisco-based platform for building AI voice agents, has raised $8 million in seed funding. Sierra Projects He led the tour and joined him 3one4 capital and better capital.

– I healtha San Francisco-based behavioral health platform, has raised $6 million in seed funding. haystack and Track light Projects He led the tour and joined him Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments and nebula.

– Associationa San Francisco-based AI-powered children’s game, has raised $5.3 million in seed funding. Makers finance He led the tour and joined him Samsung Projects, Boost VCand Founders Company.

– You have Paphosa Santa Clara, California-based platform designed to help procurement teams manage their data, has raised $5.3 million in funding. Global Guardian He led the tour.

– Previous edgea cancer prevention and early detection platform in New York City, has raised $3.3 million in seed funding. Kofond Partners and Top Projects He led the tour and joined him Humility capital, red Swan Projectsand designer finance.

– Unpleasanta San Francisco-based social platform for playable content, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. a16z speedrun and the Take risks reality finance He led the tour and others joined him.

– Parallelan AI-powered financing platform for startups based in Lehi, Utah, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding. Night capital and Tokyo black He led the tour and joined him One penny Jar Capital, background VCet al.

Private equity

– Systems planning and analysiswhich is a portfolio company Arlington Capital Partnersacquired Group Da data science and defense analytics company headquartered in Vienna and Dumfries, Virginia. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Chests + chests of chests

– Ecosystem investment Partnersa private equity firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, and San Francisco, has raised $400 million for its fifth fund focused on large-scale wetlands and stream projects, water quality, biodiversity, and habitat mitigation and restoration.

the people

– Halifax groupa private equity firm based in Washington, D.C., was promoted Jimmy Kavanaugh To the General Manager.