Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is spending big money to keep pace in the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race.
The cloud computing software company announced Monday that it is doubling the size of its Generative AI fund to $500 million from $250 million. The fund is part of Salesforce Ventures VC, a division that invests in startups developing "responsible generative AI.”
The Generative AI fund, first launched in March, has so far invested in companies including Cohere, Anthropic, You.com, Hearth.AI Humane and Tribble.
Tribble, for instance, is partnered with a privacy AI company called Private AI in order to redact personally identifiable information before it is sent through ChatGPT. Humane has developed an AI assistant wearable, and You.com hosts an AI-powered search engine with generative art and text tools, according to reports.
"We're already seeing AI change the way the world works, and we’re excited to build on the momentum of our Generative AI fund," Salesforce Ventures managing partner Paul Drews said. "We're excited to support the next generation of innovative founders."
Salesforce Ventures has spent much more on the Generative AI fund than its previous investments, which have ranged from $50 million to $125 million.
Meanwhile, Salesforce also unveiled AI Cloud, which includes its Einstein software, billed as the world’s first generative AI for customer relationship management (CRM).
“AI is reshaping our world and transforming business in ways we never imagined, and every company needs to become AI-first,” CEO Marc Benioff said. “AI Cloud, built on the #1 CRM, is the fastest and easiest way for our customers to unleash the incredible power of AI, with trust at the center driven by our new Einstein GPT Trust Layer. AI Cloud will unlock incredible innovation, productivity, and efficiency for every company.”
EinsteinGPT is designed for Salesforce users to ask questions about the platform’s content and services. A similar service exists for Slack, known as SlackGPT.
AI Cloud is also capable of creating landing pages, crafting emails and writing in Salesforce’s programming language, Apex, the company said.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel