Odyssey Startup Valued at $1.45 Billion: The Era of World Models Begins

Odyssey, a startup expected to create the next major breakthrough in AI, has raised $310 million in a Series B investment round. As a result, the company's market valuation has reached $1.45 billion, officially granting it "unicorn" status. The round was led by Natural Capital, with technology giants such as Amazon, AMD Ventures, and GV (Google Ventures) also showing significant interest in the project. This was reported by Techcrunch.com news reports.

Unlike text-based Large Language Models (LLM) such as ChatGPT, Odyssey is working on "world models." This technology collects data from the real world and simulates it in a digital environment according to the laws of physics. Such models are critical not only for image generation but also for robotics and autonomous control systems.

Startup founders Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke are experts with extensive experience in the field of self-driving vehicles. Cameron previously founded the startup Voyage, which was acquired by Cruise (part of GM). Hawke worked as an engineer at the renowned British startup Wayve. Their experience is evident in Odyssey's approach to data collection.

A Unique Approach to Data Collection

Odyssey uses a method similar to Google Earth for data collection, but more complex. The company sends employees equipped with specialized cameras on walking tours around the world to visualize the environment. This method allows for the coverage of areas inaccessible to cars, resulting in the creation of high-precision 3D models.

Founded in 2023, the company currently offers several world models for various fields such as video game development and robotics. Odyssey has attracted professional attention with its ability to create rich and interactive video content based on text prompts. This technology is expected to revolutionize virtual reality and the film industry in the future.

As part of its partnership with Amazon, Odyssey is migrating its models to the AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud platform. Additionally, the startup is optimizing its systems to run on AWS Trainium chips, which are considered competitors to NVIDIA chips. This step not only increases computing power but also affects the hardware balance in the AI market.

In addition to venture funds, the investment round included prominent angel investors such as Jeff Dean, Elad Gil, and Cruise founder Kyle Vogt. To date, Odyssey has successfully raised a total of $337 million. According to ixbt.com, this project is contending for leadership in the race for the next generation of AI—systems that understand the physical world.