A Wave of AI M&A Is Coming; The Most Hated AI Startup

Art by Mike Sullivan

and

Before we get to the column, I’d recommend you check out this story Erin, Rocket and I published on Monday about what sorts of products Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by ex-OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, is looking to build. It gives a sneak peek into how Murati plans to catch up with OpenAI and other AI rivals, bolstered by its monster $2 billion fundraise.

Now, onto today’s column…

If the last two weeks have shown us anything, it’s that big tech companies are ready to shell out lots of cash to acquire AI startups, and those AI startups are becoming more and more willing to sell as competition rises.

We wouldn’t be surprised if the deals of the last few weeks (see: Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale and its pending hiring of Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross and ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman) spark a new round of AI M&A by encouraging struggling AI startups to start pitching potential acquirers.

Here are what some of the top big tech acquirers are looking for.