Core Insights - Sakana AI has achieved a record valuation of approximately 400 billion yen (about 2.635 billion USD) following its latest Series B funding round, making it Japan's most valuable unicorn startup [4][22] - The company aims to develop nature-inspired AI models, moving away from traditional Transformer architectures to enhance efficiency and performance [11][13] Company Overview - Founded in July 2023, Sakana AI was co-founded by Llion Jones, one of the authors of the influential Transformer paper, and David Ha, a former senior scientist at Google Brain [5][9] - The company has attracted significant investment from notable firms, including Nvidia and top venture capitalists from the U.S. and Japan [4][22] Technology and Innovation - Sakana AI's flagship product, The AI Scientist, can autonomously conduct scientific research, generating complete academic papers at a low cost of around 15 USD per paper [3][14] - The company employs an "Evolutionary Model Merge" concept, allowing it to combine existing models to create new, powerful models without extensive computational resources [17][19] Research and Development - Sakana AI has been rapidly releasing research outputs, including a new benchmark for creative reasoning in AI and algorithms that enhance collaborative problem-solving among multiple AI models [21] - The AI Scientist has already produced papers that have passed peer review, indicating its potential impact on the field of AI research [19][21] Market Position - Sakana AI is positioned as a leading player in Japan's AI landscape, drawing comparisons to OpenAI due to its innovative approach and high valuation [22]