Extropic Announces $14.1 Million Seed Round, Building ‘Entropy Computer’ For Generative AI

Extropic
Extropic
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Insider Brief

  • Extropic closed Series Seed funding round, raising a total of $14.1 million.
  • The round was led by Steve Jang of Kindred Ventures, known for backing companies like Uber and Coinbase.
  • Extropic was founded by Guillaume Verdon, a former quantum tech lead within Alphabet’s X team.

PRESS RELEASE — Extropic, an AI-focused startup, has announced the successful closure of its Series Seed funding round, raising a total of $14.1 million, according to a company blog post.

The round was led by Steve Jang of Kindred Ventures, known for backing companies like Uber and Coinbase. The funding round saw participation from a range of notable venture capital firms, including Buckley Ventures, HOF Capital, Julian Capital, Marque VC, OSS Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Weekend Fund, among others.

Extropic, founded in 2022, aims to revolutionize the computation landscape by integrating generative AI with the physics of the world. The company is focused on developing a new computing paradigm that leverages out-of-equilibrium thermodynamics. According to the post, Extropic’s approach seeks to merge generative AI with physical processes, potentially redefining computation efficiency in terms of space, time and energy.

The team writes: “One then wonders, given the dawn of the Generative-AI-first era, could we fundamentally reimagine what is a “computer”? One could imagine a computer which, instead of suppressing the natural entropy of the world, achieves symbiosis with it, leveraging it as an asset.”

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The startup’s team comprises experts primarily from the fields of Physics and AI, with several members having backgrounds in quantum computing. Extropic was founded by Guillaume Verdon, a former quantum tech lead within Alphabet’s X team and a pioneer in the field of quantum deep learning. Trevor McCourt, the CTO of Extropic, has a background in mechanical engineering and quantum programming, while Christopher Chamberland, the Principal Architect, has previously led quantum computing efforts at AWS and IBM.

Entropy Computing

Extropic’s mission is to embed generative AI into the physical processes of the world, achieving limits of efficiency as defined by the laws of physics, according to the post. This ambition is rooted in a vision of computing that works in harmony with natural entropy, rather than against it. The company’s approach involves a computer that is self-programming and highly efficient, potentially scaling Generative AI without the need for massive energy production.

The post states that many team members were motivated to form the company because of the extended timelines to realize quantum computers based on traditional approaches.

They write: “Our team was formed as an AI expedition effort at the frontiers of Physics, combining scientists and engineers with backgrounds primarily in Physics and AI, with several key members coming from a scientific exodus from quantum computing. As the timelines to scalability for quantum physics-based computers grew endlessly longer and longer, many of our team sought a different path to practical physics-based computing. One that is not reliant on quantum mechanics, one where noise is an asset rather than a liability, one where a miracle in device physics is not required to reach industrial scale.”

The seed funding will be instrumental in accelerating the development of Extropic’s computational paradigm. The investment round also includes contributions from a diverse group of angel investors like Aidan Gomez from Cohere, Amjad Masad from Replit, and Balaji Srinivasan from Coinbase, demonstrating broad-based support for Extropic’s vision.

Extropic’s endeavor represents a significant shift from traditional computing paradigms, moving away from reliance on quantum mechanics and embracing noise as an asset. The company’s interdisciplinary team, with its extensive experience in physics-based AI, is well-positioned to pioneer this unified approach to Physics and AI.

This funding round not only underscores the growing interest in AI and physics-based computing solutions but also highlights the potential of Extropic’s novel approach to computation. With its fresh capital, the company is set to pursue its goal of fundamentally redefining computation, potentially leading to breakthroughs in the field of generative AI and beyond.

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Matt Swayne

With a several-decades long background in journalism and communications, Matt Swayne has worked as a science communicator for an R1 university for more than 12 years, specializing in translating high tech and deep tech for the general audience. He has served as a writer, editor and analyst at The Quantum Insider since its inception. In addition to his service as a science communicator, Matt also develops courses to improve the media and communications skills of scientists and has taught courses. [email protected]

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