AI startup Pluralis has raised $12 million in seed funding to advance its decentralized approach to training large-scale AI models. The round was co-led by Union Square Ventures (USV) and CoinFund, with participation from Topology, Variant, Eden Block, and Bodhi Ventures. Prominent angel investors, including Balaji Srinivasan and Hugging Face co-founder Clem Delangue, also backed the company.
Pluralis is developing a framework called Protocol Learning, which enables distributed AI model training across open, permissionless networks. Unlike conventional AI development methods that centralize control, Pluralis’ approach allows contributors from around the world to collaborate on building foundation models—without any single entity holding ownership over the resulting model weights.
“By spreading model training across geographically dispersed devices, we’re making collective ownership at the model layer a reality,” said Alexander Long, Pluralis’ founder and CEO.
Decentralizing AI for Accessibility and Innovation
Pluralis’ Protocol Learning aims to democratize access to powerful base models by making them publicly available. The startup believes this method promotes:
- Open access to AI models: Ensuring foundational models remain freely accessible rather than controlled by a few tech giants.
- Shared economic benefits: Participants who contribute resources or data can earn rewards, creating a more inclusive AI economy.
- Accelerated innovation: By decentralizing model ownership, Pluralis hopes to spur collaborative experimentation and prevent monopolization of AI progress.
Pushing Back Against Centralized AI
Pluralis joins a growing list of companies working to challenge Big Tech’s control over AI by promoting decentralized, community-driven development. With fresh funding, the company plans to expand its technical team, enhance its protocol infrastructure, and establish partnerships with AI researchers and open-source contributors.
By enabling global, permissionless collaboration on model training, Pluralis is positioning itself at the forefront of the movement to create open, transparent, and collectively owned AI.