Inflection AI

AI company that makes the Pi assistant and foundation models.

AIChatbotsFoundation modelsEnterprise AI

Active^{Source [7]}^{Source [1]}Last verified Oct 2, 2026

About Inflection AI

Inflection AI builds what it calls human-centered, emotionally intelligent AI. Its main consumer product is Pi, a personal AI assistant powered by the company's own foundation models.^{Source [7]}^{Source [2]}

It was founded in 2022 by Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan, and raised $225 million in 2022 and $1.3 billion in 2023 at a reported $4 billion valuation.^{Source [5]}^{Source [6]}^{Source [2]}

In March 2024 Microsoft hired Suleyman, Simonyan and most of the staff and agreed to pay about $650 million, mainly to license Inflection's models. The UK Competition and Markets Authority reviewed the arrangement and cleared it.^{Source [1]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [9]}

Under CEO Sean White the company shifted toward selling AI to businesses, while continuing to run Pi. In 2026 it launched Inflection AI Labs, whose first experiment is Pi Journeys.^{Source [4]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [10]}

Watch

CEO of Inflection AI Mustafa Suleyman on risks of artificial intelligence by CBS Mornings on YouTube

What happened

Founded in 2022 by Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan. In March 2024 Suleyman and Simonyan joined Microsoft to form Microsoft AI, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority found that the vast majority of the Inflection team was then employed by Microsoft. Sean White became chief executive and the company continues to operate and offer Pi.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [11]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [7]}

Timeline

2026Launched Inflection AI Labs, starting with Pi Journeys.^{Source [10]}
2024-09UK Competition and Markets Authority cleared Microsoft's hiring of Inflection staff.^{Source [9]}
2024-05Announced a new leadership team and a focus on enterprise chatbots.^{Source [4]}
2024-03Suleyman and Simonyan joined Microsoft with most of the staff; Microsoft agreed to pay about $650 million, and Sean White became CEO.^{Source [1]}^{Source [8]}
2023-06Raised $1.3 billion at a reported $4 billion valuation.^{Source [6]}
2022-05Raised $225 million in equity financing.^{Source [5]}
2022Founded by Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}

Products and brands

Pi: Personal AI assistant built on Inflection's foundation models.^{Source [7]}^{Source [2]}
Inflection AI Labs: Research and experimentation program; first experiment is Pi Journeys.^{Source [7]}^{Source [10]}
Enterprise AI: Custom, emotionally intelligent chatbots for business uses such as customer support.^{Source [4]}^{Source [8]}

How it makes money: Sells AI models and custom assistants to enterprise customers, and offers the Pi consumer assistant. In 2024 Microsoft paid about $650 million, mostly to license its models.^{Source [4]}^{Source [8]}

Leadership

Sean White	CEO^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [10]}	Since 2024
Vibhu Mittal	CTO^{Source [4]}	Since 2024
Ted Shelton	COO^{Source [4]}	Since 2024

Funding and financials

Valuation: $4 billion (June 2023)^{Source [6]}^{Source [2]}

Date	Round	Amount	Investors
2023-06	Funding round^{Source [6]}	$1.3 billion	Microsoft, Nvidia, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt
2022-05	Equity financing^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}	$225 million

People on Founded, and where they went next

1 person on record, connected to 7 other companies.

Person	Here	Also built
Reid Hoffman	Co-founder, Board director2022	Manas AI2025ActiveMicrosoft2017 to nowIPOGreylock2009 to nowActiveLinkedIn2002 to 2016AcquiredPayPal2000 to 2002IPOConfinity1998 to 2000MergedSocialNet.com1997 to 2000Status unknown

Sources

Microsoft hires Inflection founders to run new consumer AI division, TechCrunch, 2024-03-19. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Inflection AI, Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Terms of Service, Inflection AI. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Exclusive: Inflection AI reveals new team and plan to embed emotional AI in business bots, VentureBeat, 2024-05-20. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Inflection AI, led by LinkedIn and DeepMind co-founders, raises $225M to transform computer-human interactions, TechCrunch, 2022-05-13. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft-backed AI startup Inflection raises $1.3 billion from Nvidia and others, Reuters (via Investing.com), 2023-06-29. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Inflection AI, Inflection AI. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft pays Inflection $650 mln in licensing deal while poaching top talent, source says, Reuters (via Yahoo Finance), 2024-03-21. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft Corporation's hiring of certain former employees of Inflection AI, Inc.: summary of phase 1 decision, UK Competition and Markets Authority, 2024-09-04. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Inflection AI is Shaping the Future of Personal Intelligence, Yahoo Finance, 2026-07. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind and Inflection Co-founder, joins Microsoft to lead Copilot, Microsoft, 2024-03-19. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.

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