AI startup raises $100 million for a model to predict human behaviour, from consumer choices to earnings call questions
AI startup Simile has raised $100 million in a new round of funding to develop a model to predict human behavior, including predicting what products customers might buy and what questions might be asked on earnings calls, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The financing, scheduled to be announced Thursday, was led by Index Ventures and included participation from Bain Capital Ventures, A* and Hanabi Capital. Prominent AI personalities such as Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy also participated in the funding round. He added that Simile did not disclose its valuation.
According to the report, Simile emerged secretly this week after spending the last seven months developing an artificial intelligence model trained on interviews with hundreds of real people about their lives. The company also supplied its system with historical transaction data and transcripts from scientific journals related to behavioral experiments.
What will the human behavior prediction model be about?
The startup said it plans to use its technology to predict individual decision-making in a variety of scenarios. It does this by developing simulations filled with artificial intelligence agents that embody the preferences of real people.
The company’s innovative approach may provide an alternative to relying solely on focus groups. CVS Health Corp., for example, is testing the service to decide which products to stock and display in stores, according to Simile.
“In a recent earnings call, we simulated, actually predicted, eight out of 10 questions asked on that call,” Simile Chief Executive Officer Joon Park said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Similarity is a true combination of amazing pioneering researchers as well as amazing product and engineering talent,” he said.
Simile also thinks its technology could help companies better prepare for questions analysts might ask on earnings calls and predict how a particular corporate announcement might be received by analyzing previous calls and research.
About Simile
The startup was founded by co-founders Joon Park, Michael Bernstein, Percy Liang, and Lainie Yallen, all of whom are academically affiliated with Stanford. In particular, Bernstein is the co-author of the influential ImageNet project, which will set a benchmark in computer vision technology.
Highlighting the scope of the study, the company’s website states, “Our research has pioneered the field of AI-based simulation by creating generative agents to prove that it is possible to simulate real people with high accuracy. We are now developing a baseline model that predicts human behavior in every situation, at every scale.”
(With input from Bloomberg.)
