Building Superhuman Intelligence in Europe: British Scientist Leads $1 Billion Seed Round
- Marc Griffith
- Feb 18
- 2 min read
Summary David Silver launches Ineffable Intelligence in London with a $1 billion seed and a pre-money valuation of around $4 billion, backed by Sequoia, Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft; the approach prioritizes reinforcement learning over LLMs, aimed at autonomous AI. Key takeaways
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In the European innovation landscape, a startup led by a key AI figure aims to surpass the current limits of LLMs by focusing on reinforcement learning. The key move is a $1 billion seed round valuing Ineffable Intelligence at around $4 billion pre-money. David Silver, known for leading the creation of AlphaGo, leaves Google DeepMind to launch a strategy that prioritizes reinforcement learning over large language models.
Silver believes that large language models cannot reach superintelligence and is betting on reinforcement learning, an AI that teaches itself from scratch rather than learning from human data.
David Silver led the creation of the system that defeated the world's best Go player, and now he aims to build a system capable of surpassing human intelligence in any task. In Europe, one of the largest seed funding rounds in history is taking shape, led by Sequoia Capital, with interest from Nvidia, Google and Microsoft. The pre-money valuation is around $4 billion before the new capital injection.
The London project marks a turning point in the AI approach: it goes beyond improving what models can say, and aims to make them act autonomously, teaching them to learn from scratch and to develop autonomous capabilities. This shift from information to action is a key trend in the European AI debate.
Sequoia is leading a seed round that could distinguish the European AI investment ecosystem, drawing interest from other big tech and venture firms. This marks a significant step toward a European startup scene capable of competing with the giants and could redefine early-stage funding models on the continent. The credibility of the investors and the size of the round signal a strategic direction for European AI.
According to PitchBook, it would be the largest ever first seed round for a European startup.
The confirmation comes with open governance and the promise of continuity: Sequoia, Nvidia, Google and Microsoft recognize in the initiative a potential that could redefine the European AI ecosystem.
In a context of strong focus on the European ecosystem, Ineffable Intelligence's approach could spur new forms of collaboration between companies, investors and universities, accelerating a corner of innovation that goes beyond laboratory research.
