Decentralized Machine Learning Startup Gensyn AI Raises $43M, Led by a16z

In the tech industry’s current focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning companies are harnessing the potential of decentralized technology to maximize its benefits.

UK-based Gensyn AI, which recently secured $43 million in Series A funding led by a16z crypto, is at the forefront of empowering developers with a pay-as-you-go model to create AI tools.

Founded in 2020 by Ben Fielding and Harry Grieve, Gensyn AI aims to connect global machine learning compute hardware, including GPUs and CPUs, and make it accessible to engineers, researchers, and academics.

Gensyn AI co-founder Ben Fielding describes Gensyn as a decentralized machine learning computing protocol. The platform’s goal is to enable seamless utilization of all available machine learning capable compute hardware worldwide for training work.

However, the challenge lies in ensuring proper execution of computational tasks on these devices, which Gensyn AI has solved specifically for machine learning training, according to Fielding.

Gensyn operates as a layer one proof-of-stake blockchain built on the Substripe protocol, as explained by Harry Grieve. Layer one blockchains serve as the foundational layer for blockchain networks, facilitating transactions and adding blocks to the chain.

Gensyn’s approach offers scalability without limitations and boasts low verification overhead, making it an attractive solution for developers.

a16z crypto led the funding round for Gensyn AI, with participation from notable investors such as CoinFund, Canonical Crypto, Protocol Labs, and Eden Block, along with several angel investors.

Ali Yahya, the general partner at a16z crypto, expressed their support for Gensyn’s mission to democratize AI and ensure widespread access to productivity gains for talented entrepreneurs training new models at scale.

Despite the industry buzz surrounding AI, Gensyn AI maintains its primary focus on machine learning. Co-founder Harry Grieve emphasizes their background in machine learning and deep learning, approaching the project with a specific machine learning problem that necessitated a decentralized trust layer. Gensyn AI’s goal is to remain relevant and provide solutions in the machine learning landscape.