AI Research Startup Flapping Airplanes Valued at $6 Billion in Round

AI Research Startup Flapping Airplanes Valued at $6 Billion Flapping Airplanes, a year-old artificial intelligence startup, has raised $1 billion in funding at a $6 billion valuation — the latest example of investors betting on a newer crop of AI research labs that have yet to introduce commercial products. The financing, set to be announced Wednesday, was led by Index Ventures and Lux Capital. Other participants included Sequoia Capital, Alphabet Inc.’s GV and Kleiner Perkins. The company’s valuation, which includes the money raised, has quadrupled from a prior round in January. Founded in late 2025, Flapping Airplanes is one of a growing number of so-called AI neolabs, or startups that are initially focused on research rather than racing to launch artificial intelligence products and bolster revenue. Venture capital firms have poured billions of dollars into companies working on AI-driven scientific breakthroughs, self-improving AI systems and more. Flapping Airplanes is working on methods to train AI models on less data and less compute, as well as making the chips used to develop and run models more efficient, co-founder Asher Spector said in an interview. The effort to do more with less coincides with heightened scrutiny on the massive amount of capital companies are spending on chips and data centers to support AI development. “The basic thesis is demand for AI is going to outpace chip and data supply,” Spector said. “The company that’s going to be most successful, and create the most value for the world, is the one that can squeeze the most out of the inputs.” Given how much money is being spent on infrastructure for the current AI boom, wringing 10% more performance out of each chip would be “tremendously economically valuable,” he said.