World model maker Odyssey nabs $1.45B valuation backed by Amazon and other big names
Quick Answer
Odyssey, a startup specializing in world models, has achieved a $1.45 billion valuation, supported by major investors including Amazon.
Quick Take
This funding round positions Odyssey as a key player in the AI landscape, focusing on advanced modeling techniques that extend beyond traditional (LLMs).
Key Points
- Odyssey's valuation reached $1.45 billion in its latest funding round.
- Major backers include Amazon and other prominent investors.
- The startup focuses on world models, a new frontier in AI.
- This funding positions Odyssey as a leader in advanced AI modeling.
- World models are expected to surpass the capabilities of traditional LLMs.
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Odyssey, a world model AI startup founded by self-driving vehicle pioneers CEO Oliver Cameron and CTO Jeff Hawke, has raised a $310 million Series B round at a $1.45B valuation led by Natural Capital, with Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, and others participating.
World models are the next big thing in AI beyond text- and chat-based large language models. They gather data from the physical world and simulate it with accurate physics. In Odyssey’s case, it has mimicked how Google Earth gathered data; the startup sent people out with cameras strapped to their backs. (Google drives camera-equipped cars around.)
That approach makes sense given the backgrounds of the founders. Cameron was the co-founder and CEO of autonomous vehicle startup Voyage, which was acquired by GM’s Cruise, where he later became VP of product; Hawke was an engineer at buzzy U.K. self-driving startup Wayve.
Odyssey, founded in 2023, now offers a handful of world models for a variety of use cases, from video-game creation to robotics. It is perhaps best known for producing rich, interactive video from text prompts.
With the backing from Amazon, the startup says AWS is now its preferred cloud provider and it will optimize its models to run on AWS’s Trainium chips, a competitor to Nvidia’s AI chips.
In addition to the VCs that participated in this unicorn-crowning round, Odyssey has corralled an impressive list of angel investors as well. These include Jeff Dean, Elad Gil, Garry Tan, Guillermo Rauch, and Cruise founder Kyle Vogt. The company has now raised $337 million to date.
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