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Artificial intelligence enters a new phase with David Silver, former DeepMind who helped create systems capable of learning on their own, founds billion-dollar startup in London and attracts one of the largest initial rounds ever seen in Europe
Artificial intelligence gained a new chapter with the rise of David Silver, one of the most influential researchers in the field, who left DeepMind in January 2026 to create Ineffable Intelligence, a startup based in London that was already surrounded by gigantic figures. In just a few months, the company raised about US$ 1.1 billion in its initial round and reached a valuation of approximately US$ 5.1 billion, entering the group of so-called pentacorns even before consolidating a relevant commercial product.
What draws attention is not just the size of the investment, but the company’s proposal. Silver wants to develop a system described as a “superlearner”, capable of discovering knowledge and skills on its own, using reinforcement learning and trial and error, without relying on large volumes of data produced by humans. In a sector today dominated by models trained with texts, images, and examples made by people, the promise repositions the debate about the future of artificial intelligence.
Who is David Silver and why he became one of the most important names in artificial intelligence
David Silver, 50 years old, built his reputation over more than a decade at DeepMind, Google’s artificial intelligence lab. A specialist in reinforcement learning, he helped consolidate one of the most influential approaches in modern AI by developing systems capable of learning without relying on direct human instructions.
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It was Silver who led the development of AlphaGo, a system that defeated world champion Lee Sedol in 2016 in one of the most complex games ever created. After that, he advanced with AlphaZero, which learned to play chess, Go, and shogi at a superior level on its own, just by playing against itself. He also participated in projects like AlphaFold, aimed at predicting protein structures, and AlphaProof, which achieved Olympic-level performance in mathematics.
What the new startup wants to build
Ineffable Intelligence was born with an ambitious proposal: to develop “superintelligence” systems capable of learning indefinitely. The central concept is that of a superlearner, a model that continuously evolves through trial and error, discovering patterns and skills without relying on large-scale human data.
This idea puts the company on a different path from most of the current market. Instead of following the dominant path of large language models, the startup bets on an architecture that tries to learn more autonomously, exploring the logic of reinforcement learning as the main engine of the next generation of artificial intelligence.
Why this proposal attracts so much attention in the market
The new company attracted immediate interest because it combines two rare forces at the same time: David Silver’s technical background and a thesis that promises to break with the industry’s dominant pattern. The market saw in the startup a chance to bet early on a possible new cycle of artificial intelligence.
The initial round was led by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Google, Nvidia, Index Ventures, and funds linked to the British government. Among the investors are also the British Business Bank and Sovereign AI, a British sovereign fund created to boost strategic artificial intelligence companies in the United Kingdom.
The numbers that explain the size of the bet
The most impressive data is the speed with which the startup gained financial scale. In just a few months, Ineffable Intelligence raised about US$ 1.1 billion and reached a valuation of US$ 5.1 billion, a rare figure for such a young company still in its early stages.
This value placed the company among the pentacorns, a group of startups valued at more than US$ 5 billion. In the market, this type of fundraising has been nicknamed coconut rounds, an irony with traditional seed rounds, to describe companies created by well-known researchers that are born raising billion-dollar figures.
How the company’s idea breaks with the current dominant model
Today, the most popular model of artificial intelligence is based on large systems trained with data produced by humans. Ineffable’s proposal goes in another direction. Silver argues that this path has limitations and compares human data to “fossil fuel”, while systems that learn on their own would be like a renewable source, capable of evolving without limits.
In practice, this means trying to create an AI less dependent on ready-made examples and more capable of discovering solutions autonomously. If this vision works at scale, it could represent a profound change in the way new systems are built and trained.
Why Silver’s track record matters so much in this new phase
The market is not betting only on an abstract idea. It is betting on a researcher who has already helped change the course of artificial intelligence more than once. Silver’s work at DeepMind showed that reinforcement learning can generate applications with real impact, from excelling in complex games to optimizing power grids and increasing the efficiency of data centers.
This track record strengthens the perception that he can transform academic research into concrete technology. It is precisely this combination of scientific prestige, previous results, and new technical ambition that helped explain the speed with which the startup became a billionaire.
What the new company represents for London and the global AI race
The advancement of Ineffable reinforces the growth of London as one of the strategic centers of the new race for artificial intelligence. The city already housed DeepMind itself before its acquisition by Google in 2014, and now sees former scientists from the lab creating new companies with enormous capacity to attract capital and global attention.
This movement is also fueled by a growing network of former DeepMind employees, who help transform academic reputation into high-value businesses. With this, London reinforces its position as a hub for research, talent development, and the creation of startups linked to artificial intelligence.
What changes in practice if this bet works
If Ineffable’s thesis works, the impact could go far beyond a new billion-dollar company. The promise is to pave the way for systems that can continuously learn, discover new skills, and reduce the dependence on large-scale human data collection and organization.
This would change the logic of artificial intelligence development at a time when the market discusses cost limits, energy, data availability, and the real capacity for evolution of current models. Instead of just expanding what already exists, the startup tries to present a new route for the sector.
Why David Silver’s story became a symbol of a new phase of artificial intelligence
Silver’s trajectory summarizes two movements that are redefining the sector. On one side, the growing weight of researchers capable of leaving academia and large labs to set up companies valued in billions. On the other, the search for alternatives to the dominant model, in a race to discover what will be the next big shift in artificial intelligence.
By raising US$ 1.1 billion, creating a startup valued at US$ 5.1 billion, and promising an AI that learns on its own, David Silver has become one of the strongest faces of this new stage. The market now observes not just a brilliant scientist, but an entrepreneur trying to prove that the future of artificial intelligence can be very different from what dominates today.
In your view, will the next big revolution in artificial intelligence really come from systems that learn on their own, or will models trained with human data still dominate for a longer time?
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