Mirendil Signs $100M+ Google Cloud AI Deal

AI research lab Mirendil signed a multi-year Google Cloud partnership worth more than $100M for TPU and GPU compute to train self-improving AI systems aimed at eventually automating an entire frontier lab's research work.

By the Numbers

$100M+
Deal value
$200M
Prior funding
Google TPUs + Nvidia GPUs
Compute
Trace Cohen
By Trace Cohen · Value Add Pulse AI Desk
Founder & Editor-in-chief, Value Add VC
1 min read
Mirendil Signs $100M+ Google Cloud AI Deal: key figures
ShareXLinkedInEmail

THE RUNDOWN

1

A compute commitment worth more than $100 million against $200 million raised in seed funding means Mirendil has tied a sum on the order of half its lifetime capital to one vendor relationship before shipping a product.

2

Google gets a strategic position in a lab building recursive self-improving AI without writing an equity check -- the same playbook it has run landing AI-native startups on Google Cloud rather than AWS or Azure.

3

The founding team came out of Anthropic, and the stated goal -- AI that can take on the research and engineering work of an entire frontier lab -- is the direction Anthropic, OpenAI and DeepMind have all pointed publicly this year.

4

The diligence question for this whole category is what "self-improving" means operationally today versus on a five-year roadmap slide, because the distance between those two answers is where most of the hype currently sits.

The VC Read

Value Add VC analysis

Cloud giants courting compute-hungry AI labs with nine-figure deals is now standard distribution strategy, not generosity -- Google gets a strategic stake in whatever Mirendil builds without writing an equity check. The real diligence question for any self-improving-AI startup: what does 'self-improving' mean operationally right now versus as a five-year roadmap slide, because that gap is where most of this category's hype currently lives.

Analysis

Mirendil, an AI research lab founded by former Anthropic researchers including CEO Behnam Neyshabur, signed a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud worth more than $100 million for compute capacity, according to TechCrunch. The deal gives Mirendil access to both Google's TPUs and Nvidia GPUs through managed training clusters, which the company will use to develop what it calls self-improving AI -- systems designed to accelerate their own research and development cycle. Mirendil has previously raised $200 million in seed funding.

The company's stated ambition is unusually direct for a lab this young: build AI capable of eventually taking on the research and engineering work of an entire frontier AI lab. That's the same broad direction Anthropic, OpenAI and DeepMind have all pointed toward publicly this year, using language like "AI exponential" and "intelligence explosion" to describe models that increasingly help build the next generation of themselves.

For Google, the deal is as much about distribution as compute revenue -- landing a startup building frontier recursive self-improving AI as a strategic partner gives Google a technology it can eventually offer enterprise customers through its own cloud platform, the same playbook it has run with other AI-native startups building on Google Cloud rather than AWS or Azure.

ShareXLinkedInEmail

More from the Pulse archive: Artificial Intelligence coverage → · All topics

Key Sources

2 sources

Reported by TechCrunch · First reported by Seeking Alpha · Analysis by Value Add Pulse.

← Back to Pulse

THE WIRE in your inbox— Tech, startup & VC news with The VC Read, a few times a week. Free to subscribe, no spam.

No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Sent via Substack · Privacy · or subscribe on Substack ↗

Read Next

FUNDING

Mirendil Raises $200M Seed to Build AI That Excels at AI R&D

Illustration for: Mirendil Raises $200M Seed to Build AI That Excels at AI R&D
FUNDING$200M

Mirendil Raises $200M Seed to Build AI That Excels at AI R&D

Mirendil, a San Francisco frontier lab building systems designed to excel at AI research and development itself, raised a $200 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins. The gargantuan seed reflects investor conviction that automating AI research -- models that help build better models -- could be the highest-leverage frontier in the field.

FUNDING

Mirendil In Talks To Raise At $5B, Up 5x In A Quarter

FUNDING$5B valuation (in talks)

Mirendil In Talks To Raise At $5B, Up 5x In A Quarter

Mirendil, the self-improving-AI startup founded by two ex-Anthropic researchers three months ago, is reportedly in talks with Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz to raise up to $1 billion at a $5 billion valuation.

AI

Anthropic Brings Claude Fable 5 Back Globally After US Lifts Export Control Order

Anthropic Brings Claude Fable 5 Back Globally After US Lifts Export Control Order logo
AIGlobal access restored

Anthropic Brings Claude Fable 5 Back Globally After US Lifts Export Control Order

The US Department of Commerce cleared Anthropic to restore global access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 starting July 1, after suspending both models in mid-June under an export control directive citing national security. Access resumes on the Claude Platform, Claude.ai, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and will be re-enabled on AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Foundry, with up to 50% of weekly usage included free through July 7.