Venture capital firms are spending huge sums on AI startups – especially those led by big names in tech – so SandboxAQ is reaching out again, even though it has raised a whopping $500 million early 2023.
Google parent company Alphabet is reportedly looking to raise another funding round that would value it at $5 billion, according to sources at Bloomberg. Its latest $500 million funding round, completed in February 2023, had backers including Breyer Capital, the T. Rowe Price funds and Marc Benioff, Reuters reported at the time. PitchBook estimated its valuation after this round at $4 billion.
SandboxAQ began as Alphabet’s Moonshot AI quantum computing unit led by Jack Hidary, also known as a longtime X Prize board member. It spun off from Alphabet and became an independent startup in March 2022, with Hidary as CEO. Billionaire and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt became president of the startup.
Its mission is a veritable alphabet soup of buzzwords: working at the intersection of quantum computing and AI. But it’s not building a quantum computer, even though its software products should one day work with them, Hidary said in a recent episode of the Peter H. Diamandis podcast. Instead, it builds software based on quantum physics that can model molecules and predict their behavior. Google is still working on the quantum computing part, but Hidary says SandboxAQ already has a number of quantum computing partnerships.
The startup has on its hands a vast and somewhat wild assortment of products in the areas of life sciences, materials science, navigation, encryption and cybersecurity.
It does not work with AI of the AI ChatGPT generative chatbot variety. Instead of predicting language, it uses big AI modeling techniques on equations. Or, as Hidary explains: “Instead of the world of large linguistic models, we have now entered the world of large quantitative models, LQMs. And LQMs are about starting with equations to generate data. …It is the most efficient and accurate way to generate data.
To that end, it already has an impressive list of development deals. For example, he is working on how to extend the life of lithium-ion batteries with battery company Novonix; it has a contract with the US Air Force to develop magnetic navigation systems that do not rely on GPS; and it is working with a number of US hospitals on an AI-powered “magnetocardiography system,” a new type of medical device for imaging the heart, among other projects.
So, this AI is turning to bigger barriers than writing essays or creating deepfake videos.
Interestingly, some indicators suggest that SandboxAQ could become one of the AI companies that venture capitalists are eager to back. Throughout the year, a number of investors created special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for the company’s shares. As we previously reported, these SPVs have become a popular financial tool as many investors are eager to acquire a stake in high-profile AI startups.
SandboxAQ did not immediately respond to our request for comment.