AI inference provider Baseten reportedly raising $1.5B in funding
Baseten Inc., a startup with a platform for running artificial intelligence inference workloads, is raising $1.5 billion in funding.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Altimeter Capital, Conviction, Spark Capital, Sands Capital and Wellington Management are co-leading the deal. It’s unclear whether there are additional participants. Some of the investors are buying shares at an $11 billion valuation while the other backers’ term sheets specify a $13 billion valuation.
Setting up a cloud-based inference cluster involves a significant amount of work. Developers have to provision graphics cards, configure them, link them together and install a large number of software tools. Baseten provides a platform that automates the workflow. The software is available as a managed service and as a standalone application that companies can deploy in their public cloud environments.
Baseten’s platform is powered by three core modules the company calls inference engines. They optimize the performance of customers’ AI models and collect data about technical issues.
