Aditya Birla Ventures backs US startup Articul8 in AI race

Articul8 specializes in AI models that run within their own servers to address data concerns

- Shouvik Das & Nehal Chaliawala

Aditya Birla Ventures, the private capital investment arm of the Aditya Birla Group, said on Thursday that it was one of the investors backing a $70 million Series B funding round in US-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Articul8.

Though the company didn’t disclose the amount it has invested, the bet makes the metals-to-fashion conglomerate the latest to join India’s top business groups venturing into AI, even as concerns grow that the technology may be overhyped.

The Santa Clara, California-headquartered startup, which claimed to have hit a valuation of “over $500 million” with this funding round, specializes in offering companies AI models that run in silos and within their own IT servers, in a bid to address concerns of data leakage.

It wasn’t clear whether the group, spanning cement, fashion, lending and insurance, metals, paint, and telecommunications, will integrate Articul8’s AI platform into its services.

Aryaman Birla, founder of Aditya Birla Ventures and the son of the group’s chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, said, in a press statement, the company had “strong belief' and conviction in the founding team, and the investment aligns with our vision to back outstanding founders building global businesses of tomorrow”.