AI Startup Humans& Raises $480 Million Seed Round at $4.5 Billion Valuation

Jan 21, 2026
AI startup Humans& has raised $480 million in a seed round valuing the company at $4.5 billion. The round included investors such as Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, GV, and SV Angel, and was founded by former researchers from OpenAI, xAI, and Alphabet.

AI startup Humans& has raised $480 million in seed funding at a $4.5 billion valuation, reports Reuters. The round was led by SV Angel and co-founder Georges Harik, with participation from Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, Alphabet’s venture arm GV, and other investors.

Founded by former researchers from OpenAI, xAI, and Alphabet, Humans& is developing human-centric AI tools for communication and collaboration. The company plans to launch its first product later this year. CEO Eric Zelikman said the model will coordinate with people and other AIs to improve teamwork and productivity.

The founding team includes Georges Harik, who helped launch Gmail and Google Docs, and Zelikman, who previously worked at xAI on training data for Grok-2. Other members come from Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta, and Stanford University. The company employs around 20 people and aims to build AI systems that support human interaction and cooperation.

We hope you enjoyed this article

Consider subscribing to one of our newsletters like AI Funding Brief or Daily AI Brief.

Also, consider following us on social media:

Free newsletter

AI Funding Brief

Industry analysis

2025 Global Business Services Agenda: Gen AI Takes Center Stage

The Hackett Group

This industry analysis by The Hackett Group explores the transformative impact of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) on global business services (GBS) in 2025. The study highlights the shift from exploration to acceleration of Gen AI initiatives, with 89% of executives advancing these projects to improve customer satisfaction, innovate products, and reduce costs. The report also discusses the challenges and strategies for successful Gen AI adoption, emphasizing the need for a technology-enabled operating model and the importance of reskilling the workforce.

Read more
Free, six days a week

Daily AI Brief: the AI news that matters, in your inbox.