Inflection AI
{{Short description|Artificial intelligence company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Inflection AI, Inc.
| logo =
| logo_size =
| image =
| image_caption =
| type = Public benefit corporation
| industry = Artificial intelligence
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Reid Hoffman | Mustafa Suleyman | Karén Simonyan}}
| founded = {{Start date and age|2022}}
| hq_location = Palo Alto, California, U.S.
| key_people = Sean White (CEO)
| area_served =
| products = Pi
| services =
| num_employees = 35 (2023)
| owner =
| website = {{URL|inflection.ai}}
}}
Inflection AI, Inc. is an American technology company which has developed machine learning and generative artificial intelligence hardware and apps, founded in 2022.{{Cite web |last=Wiggers |first=Kyle |date=2022-05-13 |title=Inflection AI raises $225M to supercharge computer-human interactions |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/13/inflection-ai-led-by-linkedin-and-deepmind-co-founders-raises-225m-to-transform-computer-human-interactions/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Quach |first=Katyanna |title=LinkedIn billionaire launches Inflection AI startup |url=https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/09/linkedin_hoffman_ai/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=www.theregister.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Shead |first=Sam |date=2022-03-08 |title=Reid Hoffman has co-founded his first new company since LinkedIn sale |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/reid-hoffman-has-set-up-a-new-ai-company-with-deepminds-co-founder.html |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=CNBC |language=en}} The company is structured as a public benefit corporation and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.{{Cite web |last=Konrad |first=Alex |date=2023-06-29 |title=Inflection AI, The Year-Old Startup Behind Chatbot Pi, Raises $1.3 Billion |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2023/06/29/inflection-ai-raises-1-billion-for-chatbot-pi/ |work=Forbes}}{{Cite web |last=Kahn |first=Jeremy |date=2023-05-03 |title=DeepMind cofounder's new A.I. chatbot is a good listener. And that's about it. Is that enough? |url=https://fortune.com/2023/05/03/inflection-ai-deepmind-cofounder-mustafa-suleyman-pi-chatbot/ |work=Fortune}}
History
The company was founded by entrepreneurs Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan in 2022. The company has collaborated with Nvidia to develop hardware for generative artificial intelligence.
In June 2023, the company raised US$1.3 billion at $4 billion valuation.{{Cite web |last=Konrad |first=Alex |title=Inflection AI, The Year-Old Startup Behind Chatbot Pi, Raises $1.3 Billion |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2023/06/29/inflection-ai-raises-1-billion-for-chatbot-pi/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
In March 2024, Suleyman and Simonyan announced their departure from the company in order to start Microsoft AI, with Microsoft acqui-hiring nearly the entirety of its 70-person workforce.{{Cite web |title=The new Inflection: An important change to how we’ll work |url=https://inflection.ai/the-new-inflection |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Inflection |language=en}} As part of the deal, Microsoft paid Inflection $650 million to license its technology. The proceeds were used to reimburse Inflection AI's investors.{{Cite news |last1=Griffith |first1=Erin |last2=Metz |first2=Cade |date=August 8, 2024 |title=The New A.I. Deal: Buy Everything but the Company |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/technology/ai-start-ups-google-microsoft-amazon.html |work=The New York Times}} UK's Competition and Markets Authority launched a preliminary probe into the deal to examine the impact on competition and whether the agreement constituted a merger.{{Cite news |last=Orru |first=Mauro |date=July 16, 2024 |title=Microsoft Faces U.K. Antitrust Probe Over Ties to Inflection AI |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/microsoft-faces-u-k-antitrust-probe-over-inflection-ai-ties-b2898a51 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} The regulator concluded that the deal amounted to a "merger situation," but did not pose a threat to competition due to Inflection's small share in the UK consumer market.{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-inflection-ai-pi-cma-5c1470944f5472610cbe5a443c664d12 |title=UK competition watchdog clears Microsoft’s hiring of AI startup’s core staff |date=September 4, 2024 |publisher=Associated Press}}
Products
The first product released widely by Inflection AI is a chatbot, Pi, named for “personal intelligence,” that is intended to function as an artificial intelligence-based personal assistant.{{Cite web |last=Konrad |first=Alex |title=Inflection AI, Startup From Ex-DeepMind Leaders, Launches Pi — A Chattier Chatbot |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2023/05/02/inflection-ai-ex-deepmind-launches-pi-chatbot/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Forbes |language=en}} Among the user experience goals that the company has stated for the Pi product are: providing an experience of emotional support for human users, in which the chatbot should be able to maintain an interactive text or voice-based dialogue with a human user that includes elements of kindness, a diplomatic tone about sensitive topics, and humor.{{Cite news |last=Hu |first=Krystal |date=2023-05-02 |title=Hoffman and Suleyman's AI startup Inflection launches ChatGPT-like chatbot |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/reid-hoffmans-new-ai-startup-inflection-launches-chatgpt-like-chatbot-2023-05-02/ |access-date=2023-06-16}} Comparisons and contrasts have been made between the Pi chatbot and ChatGPT, a chatbot created by OpenAI.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-03 |title=LinkedIn co-founder and Google DeepMind co-founder's startup Inflection AI launches 'Pi' chatbot |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/linkedin-co-founder-and-google-deepmind-co-founders-startup-inflection-ai-launches-pi-chatbot-379818-2023-05-03 |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Business Today |language=en}}