October 3, 2025 News
Naveen Rao Raises Hundreds of Millions for Brain-Inspired AI Hardware Startup at $5B Valuation
Naveen Rao, former head of AI at Databricks, is raising $1 billion at a $5 billion valuation for Unconventional, Inc., a startup building novel AI computing hardware inspired by biological efficiency. Led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Lightspeed and Lux Capital, the company aims to compete with Nvidia by designing custom silicon chips and server infrastructure. Rao has already raised hundreds of millions and plans to begin building immediately using a tranched funding approach.
Skynet Chance (+0.01%): Alternative hardware architectures could potentially enable more distributed AI development beyond current centralized control points, though biological-inspired designs may also improve alignment properties. The net effect on control and safety is uncertain at this stage.
Skynet Date (-1 days): Significant capital investment in novel AI hardware could accelerate overall AI capability development by diversifying compute approaches and potentially overcoming current bottlenecks. However, the technology is still in early development stages with uncertain timelines to deployment.
AGI Progress (+0.02%): Brain-scale efficiency computing represents a potential breakthrough in overcoming current power and scaling limitations of AI systems, addressing a fundamental constraint to AGI development. The substantial $5B valuation and backing from top VCs signals confidence in the technical approach's viability.
AGI Date (-1 days): The massive capital deployment ($1B raise) and focus on fundamentally rethinking computer architecture for AI could accelerate AGI timelines if successful, though hardware development typically requires 3-5+ years. Competition with Nvidia suggests potential for breaking current compute monopolies that may be constraining progress.
OpenAI DevDay 2025: Company Expands Beyond AI Models Into Devices, Browsers, and Social Media
OpenAI is hosting its third annual developer conference, DevDay 2025, on October 6th in San Francisco with over 1,500 attendees expected. The event will feature announcements, keynotes from executives including CEO Sam Altman, and a fireside chat with designer Jony Ive, amid OpenAI's expansion into AI devices, browsers, and social media beyond its core ChatGPT product. The company faces intensifying competition from Anthropic, Google, and Meta in the race to win over developers.
Skynet Chance (+0.01%): OpenAI's expansion into multiple consumer product categories (devices, browsers, social media) suggests broader AI integration into daily life, slightly increasing potential attack surfaces and dependency on AI systems. However, this is primarily a commercial expansion rather than a fundamental capabilities or safety concern.
Skynet Date (+0 days): The expansion into consumer products accelerates AI deployment and integration across multiple domains, potentially creating more complex systems sooner. The competitive pressure from Anthropic, Google, and Meta may also drive faster deployment cycles with less safety consideration.
AGI Progress (+0.01%): OpenAI's broadening scope from a single model API to multiple product categories demonstrates confidence in applying AI capabilities more widely, suggesting incremental progress in making AI systems more versatile and useful. The competitive landscape mentioned indicates general industry advancement in AI capabilities, particularly for coding and web design.
AGI Date (+0 days): Intense competition from Anthropic, Google, and Meta (with its new Superintelligence Labs) is driving OpenAI to release better models at lower prices, accelerating the overall pace of AI development. The industry-wide push suggests AGI-relevant capabilities may emerge sooner than in a less competitive environment.