MUFG becomes largest JP investor in Japanese AI Tech unicorn Sakana AI

Tokyo, Oct 2024 - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (“MUFG”) and its consolidated subsidiary, MUFG Bank, Ltd., along with MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., announced that they have entered into an investment agreement with Sakana AI K.K. (“Sakana AI”), an AI R&D company. As a result of this agreement, MUFG has become Sakana AI’s largest Japanese corporate investor, during this Series A funding round.

Founded in July 2023, in about a year Sakana AI achieved unicorn status with a valuation exceeding one billion dollars. The company is led by David Ha, who has overseen complex systems and autonomous systems research as the head of Google Brain’s research team in Japan; Llion Jones, one of the authors of the seminal paper “Attention Is All You Need,” which catalyzed the development of the “Transformer” AI model, leading to the explosive proliferation of current generative AI; and Ren Ito, who has been involved in diplomacy and global business operations at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mercari, Inc. Sakana AI boasts top-tier global talent and has achieved innovative milestones such as “Evolutionary Model Merge,” a method for merging multiple AI models, and “The AI Scientist,” the first comprehensive system for fully automatic scientific discovery, enabling foundation models to perform research independently. These groundbreaking initiatives are expected to further advance AI development from multiple perspectives.

In its Medium-term Business Plan, which commenced in April 2024, MUFG has committed to enhancing its AI capabilities and data infrastructure to achieve data-driven management as well as to improve productivity and customer value. This commitment falls under the theme “Accelerate Transformation & Innovation,” which is one of the three pillars of the plan. By leveraging Sakana AI’s advanced technological capabilities and innovative model development methods, MUFG aims to further elevate its AI strategy.

 

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About Sakana AI Founded in July 2023 and based in Tokyo, Sakana AI K.K. (Sakana AI), is a rapidly growing AI R&D company, led by David Ha, Llion Jones, and Ren Ito. Sakana AI has already achieved significant and innovative milestones, including “Evolutionary Model Merge,” a method for merging multiple AI models, and “The AI Scientist,” the first comprehensive system for fully automatic scientific discovery, enabling foundation models to perform research independently.