Oct 29, 2024 - Business

Sierra, co-founded by OpenAI chair Bret Taylor, raises $175 million

Dan Primack

Illustration of a tiny robot breaking out a chat box. — Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Sierra, a builder of custom AI agents for enterprise customer service, raised $175 million led by Greenoaks Capital at a $4.5 billion valuation.

Why it matters: This is the poster child for most AI roads leading back to Google or OpenAI, as Sierra is co-founded by search giant vets Clay Bavor and Bret Taylor (who also chairs OpenAI's board).

Other investors include Iconiq and Thrive Capital, while the company previously raised over $100 million from Benchmark and Sequoia Capital.

The bottom line: There's a burgeoning belief in Silicon Valley that OpenAI has built a slew of AI agents that it hasn't yet released into the wild, thus threatening countless startups. A new spin on "Why won't Google or Amazon just build it?"

Sierra and its investors either believe the narrative is wrong, thanks perhaps to insider knowledge, or that customization will prove a key differentiator.

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Sierra, co-founded by OpenAI chair Bret Taylor, raises $175 million

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