Twenty-nine AI neolabs raised $23 billion. Most have nothing to sell.
Neolabs are AI labs founded by researchers who left the big AI companies. The store is our illustration; the tally behind it is real and linked below.
Safe Superintelligence (SSI) started the neolab era two years ago. The lab is valued at $32 billion and has said it will not ship any product until it reaches superintelligence.
The venture firm Radical Ventures counts 29 of these labs, which have raised $23 billion between them. Fewer than 35% have released a commercial product, and just over half have released any code, often only research demos.
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is reportedly in talks to raise at a valuation near $40 billion, on a reported revenue run-rate of over $200 million a year.
Sources: Dealroom (Oct 18, 2026), reporting The Economist's Oct 15 story and a Radical Ventures count; SSI's own site (accessed Oct 19, 2026).
- Dealroom news item (Oct 18, 2026), reporting The Economist's Oct 15 story and a Radical Ventures count: the tally, the product counts and the valuations: "Twenty-nine AI 'neolabs' ... have raised a combined $23 billion, according to a count by venture firm Radical Ventures. Yet fewer than 35% have released a commercial product." ... "Just over half of the 29 labs have released any code at all, often only research demos." ... "SSI is now valued at $32 billion and has said it will not ship any product until it reaches 'superintelligence.'" ... "Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is reportedly in talks to raise at a valuation near $40 billion, on a reported annualised revenue run-rate of over $200 million." ... "Nvidia has emerged as the era's kingmaker, with 32 separate investments in startup model-makers."
- SSI's own site, ssi.inc (accessed Oct 19, 2026): the one-product roadmap in the lab's own words: "We have started the world's first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence." ... "SSI is our mission, our name, and our entire product roadmap, because it is our sole focus."
Current as of Oct 19, 2026. The image is an AI-generated illustration. Not affiliated with anyone.