Medal Launches General Intuition: A New AI Lab with $133.7 Million Seed Funding
Pioneering AI Development Using Gaming Data
In a significant move, Pim de Witte, the founder of Medal—a platform renowned for its extensive video game clipping capabilities—has announced the establishment of a new artificial intelligence (AI) lab named General Intuition. This initiative comes on the heels of a substantial $133.7 million seed funding round, primarily led by Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures and an early investor in OpenAI. Additional backing has come from firms such as General Catalyst and the Raine Group, as well as the involvement of Moritz Baier-Lentz from Lightspeed’s gaming investments as a founding team member.
Valuation Realized from Gaming Data
Since mid-2022, de Witte actively approached several top-tier AI laboratories to explore potential collaborations that would leverage Medal’s data—encompassing nearly 2 billion uploads annually across thousands of video games—for training AI models. The response was astonishing, leading to a flurry of acquisition offers, with reports indicating an offer as high as $500 million from OpenAI.
Initially uncertain about the full potential of their data, de Witte acknowledged the discovery of Medal’s unique value proposition for developing foundational AI models capable of functioning within real-world environments. He spotlighted the importance of the gaming data, noting, “It’s a pretty big bet.”
A Focus on World Models
General Intuition aims to delve deeper into world models, a relatively nascent research sector that aspires to imbue AI with a spatial understanding akin to human navigation. The objective is to enable AI systems—like robots—to predict outcomes, such as preventing a glass of water from spilling when jostled. Major players in the AI domain, including Google DeepMind, have championed the significance of world models, viewing them as crucial in the quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Commencing with applications in search and rescue drones, de Witte envisions future General Intuition contributions extending to areas like humanoid robotics and autonomous vehicles. He underscored the inherent advantages of incorporating gaming data into AI training, stating, “Games provide a verifiable domain for spatial-temporal reasoning.”
The Path Forward and Associated Risks
While the potential for innovation in AI applications is vast, Khosla cautioned that the journey ahead carries inherent risks. The debate around the optimal technical strategies for developing world models remains heated, with many industry experts uncertain about which data sources will yield the most utility.
Although General Intuition seeks to capitalize on its unique dataset and the expertise of its research team, competition from well-resourced giants like Google could pose significant challenges. Khosla noted, “Somebody will win big in this market,” hinting at the possibility of multiple companies emerging as industry leaders, potentially valued in the hundreds of billions or even into the trillions.
Gaming Industry Insights
De Witte’s revelations suggest that gaming companies may soon become attractive acquisition targets for AI labs as the interest in world models escalates. He emphasized that Medal’s unique positioning allows it to transition from merely a data provider to a contributor in AI innovation. However, he cautioned fellow gaming firms about the risks associated with potential licensing agreements or acquisition offers from large AI entities, advising that the evolving capabilities of AI models may reduce the need for extensive data in the future.
In summary, General Intuition stands poised to make a significant impact in the AI landscape, leveraging the power of gaming for cutting-edge technological advancements. The forthcoming developments will be crucial to watch as this sector continues to evolve.
