In a stunning display of investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicle software company Applied Intuition has secured $250 million in a Series E funding round, propelling its valuation to an impressive $6 billion. The round was led by Lux Capital's Bilal Zuberi, investor Elad Gil, and Porsche Investments Management, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Bond, and Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg.

Founded in 2017, Applied Intuition has established itself as a key player in the development of AI-powered solutions for the automotive, defense, construction, and agriculture sectors. The company's software enables automakers and other clients to create simulations for testing perception and vehicle behavior systems, as well as manage the vast amounts of data involved in developing autonomous vehicles (AVs).

Co-founder and CEO Qasar Younis stated that the fresh capital will be used to fund "the most ambitious projects that we have, without flooding the company and breaking our culture." Applied Intuition's client roster boasts an impressive lineup, with "18 of the top 20 automakers," including General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen, as well as AV startups like Gatik, Motional, and Kodiak. The company also holds a contract with the Army and Defense Innovation Unit.

Peter Ludwig, co-founder and CTO, emphasized the importance of partnering with Applied Intuition, stating, "It's dangerous for an automaker to not partner with us in some ways because of just the sheer complexity and the impact that some of the technology we're working on."

This funding round comes at a time when the development of autonomous vehicles faces increased scrutiny, with incidents involving GM-owned Cruise and Waymo's software recall raising concerns. However, the appetite for AI technology remains strong, with Younis asserting that integrating more AI into Applied Intuition's products will "exponentially accelerate the production of next-generation vehicles."

The Need for Massive AI Compute Power

As Applied Intuition and other companies continue to push the boundaries of AI in the automotive industry, the demand for massive amounts of AI compute power becomes increasingly apparent. Computer vision projects, which form the core of autonomous vehicle technology, require significant processing power to interpret complex visual data, including traffic signs, lane markings, traffic lights, and road conditions.

Object detection models, for example, are computationally expensive and require substantial processing power when deployed at scale. Image classification tasks using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are also highly compute-intensive, potentially requiring multiple GPUs to run at production scale. Video analysis, including object detection and tracking, is another key application of deep learning for computer vision that demands significant compute power.

Self-driving car projects, in particular, require a tremendous amount of compute power due to the complex tasks involved in autonomous driving. MIT researchers determined that 1 billion autonomous vehicles, each driving for one hour per day with a computer consuming 840 watts, would consume enough energy to generate about the same level of emissions as all global data centers currently do. To keep emissions in check, each vehicle must use less than 1.2 kilowatts of power for computing, necessitating more efficient hardware.

Leading companies in the self-driving technology space, such as Tesla, are already taking steps to address these challenges. Tesla recently rolled out Hardware 4, which includes a new camera suite and an upgraded radar unit, improving processing speed by 10 times.

As Applied Intuition's $6 billion valuation and the increasing demand for AI compute power demonstrate, the AI industry is experiencing growth that is difficult to keep up with. However, this growth is not without its challenges. The AI sector faces a significant imbalance between the demand for compute power and the available supply, with a record 10:1 ratio. This is where AI Royalty Corp. comes in, offering innovative financing solutions to help AI infrastructure companies meet the endless global demand for AI compute.

AI Royalty Corp. is a royalty company that partners with data centers, GPU leasing businesses, and other NVIDIA H100 or similar GPU-powered centers to provide non-dilutive financing for expansion, optimize underused resources, and support data center scaling. By partnering with AI Royalty Corp., businesses can accelerate their growth, expand their customer base, and generate more revenue from their existing infrastructure.

The AI market is projected to reach US$738.80 billion by 2030, and AI Royalty Corp.'s model enables data centers and other businesses to be a part of this growth in AI compute power. Through revenue share agreements that cover infrastructure services, licensing fees, usage fees, and other revenue streams related to infrastructure, AI Royalty Corp. helps businesses grow faster and accelerate growth while generating more revenue.

As companies like Applied Intuition continue to push the boundaries of AI in various industries, the need for efficient and scalable solutions to meet the growing demand for AI compute power becomes increasingly critical. AI Royalty Corp. is well-positioned to address this need, offering a transformative approach to financing AI infrastructure.

To learn more about how an AI infrastructure investment from AI Royalty Corp. can help power AI compute, or to explore how a royalty streaming deal can transform your business' role in the AI infrastructure ecosystem, schedule a call with AI Royalty Corp. today.

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