AI Lab Planes that beat just received $180 million in seed funding from Google Ventures, Sequoia, and Index to do something most labs have quietly abandoned: make models learn like humans instead of sucking up the Internet. The founding team, brothers Ben and Asher Spector and co-founder Aidan Smith, are betting that radically more effective data training could open the door to entirely new AI capabilities.
Today on TechCrunch Equity podcast, TechCrunch AI Editor-in-Chief Russell Brandon sits down with the three founders to explain why investors wrote such a large check for a no-product lab, what’s becoming possible with radically more efficient AI, and why they’re prioritizing creativity over credentials.
Listen to the full episode to find out more:
- Why the Flapping Airplanes team focuses on research first, then commercialization
- What the “neolabs” generation means for AI development
- How they plan to make AI models 1,000 times more data efficient. A clue? The team believes the brain is ‘the floor, not the ceiling’ of AI capabilities
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Russell Brandom has covered the tech industry since 2012, with a focus on platform policy and emerging technologies. He previously worked at The Verge and Rest of World, and has written for Wired, The Awl, and MIT’s Technology Review. He can be reached at russell.brandom@techcrunch.com or on Signal at 412-401-5489.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch and focuses on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of two producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and designed live performances and guest interviews like Lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Monmouth University.
You can contact or check Theresa’s outreach by sending an email Theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com.
