Europe doesn't have many large language model (LLM) makers, but one of the few AI companies out there, Germany's Aleph Alpha, appears to be preparing to exit the race. Bloomberg interviewed CEO Jonas Andrulis about the company's pivot to a broader generative AI support business.
The idea behind the product, PhariaAI, announced last week, is to help other companies and the public sector use AI tools, whether or not they've developed the underlying technology themselves. “The world has changed,” Andrewlis told Bloomberg. “Just getting a European law master's degree is not enough of a business model. You can't justify the investment.”
Aleph Alpha raised $500 million in a Series B round last November, but with larger players in the field like OpenAI having much deeper pockets to fund development, and France's Mistral also raising more money from investors at home, the German startup has had to work harder to stay in the LLM race.