Standard Intelligence Rides Neolab Fervor with Computer Use Model

<p>Pedestrians in downtown San Francisco are used to seeing <b>Waymos</b> navigating the streets. But two months ago, people in the South Park neighborhood saw something new: a <b>Toyota Rav4</b> driving around with a laptop propped on the dashboard.&nbsp;</p><p>The laptop was running a new breed of AI model, known as a “computer use model,” from a two-year-old startup called <b>Standard Intelligence</b>. The “computer use model” can operate a computer to do a range of tasks from testing a banking website to deleting spam emails—and even steering a car, which other similar agents would struggle with.&nbsp;</p><p>Standard Intelligence is rethinking the data that goes into training such models, which traditionally consists of textual data. While the startup is still small, its approach is drawing significant interest: it recently raised $75 million at a valuation of $500 million, including the funds, it told The Information exclusively. <b>Sequoia Capital</b> and <b>Spark Capital</b> led the round. That’s more than 16 times its seed round valuation from late 2024.</p>