Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of the cloud-based software company, has launched a $250 million fund to support the development of responsible generative AI. The fund is intended to bolster the startup ecosystem by investing in companies that have the ability to transform application software and impact end users’ workflows using trusted and responsible development processes.
The announcement was made during the TrailblazerDX event and the fund will initially invest in four companies: Anthropic, Cohere, Hearth.AI and You.com. These companies have demonstrated their ability to develop responsible generative AI, which is a key focus for Salesforce Ventures.
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According to a recent survey, over two-thirds of business leaders are prioritizing generative AI over the next 18 months. However, there are technical and ethical concerns associated with the technology, which need to be addressed. The fund aims to support the development of generative AI that is both innovative and trustworthy.
“Salesforce Ventures has been investing in high-potential enterprise technology businesses for more than a decade and these initial investments from the fund in generative AI companies fit squarely into that strategy”, said John Somorjai, EVP Corporate Development and Salesforce Ventures at Salesforce.
