World model maker Odyssey nabs $1.45B valuation backed by Amazon and other big names

世界模型开发商 Odyssey 获亚马逊等巨头支持，估值达 14.5 亿美元

Odyssey, a world model AI startup founded by self-driving vehicle pioneers CEO Oliver Cameron and CTO Jeff Hawke, has raised a $310 million Series B round at a $1.45B valuation led by Natural Capital, with Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, and others participating. Odyssey 是一家由自动驾驶领域先驱——首席执行官 Oliver Cameron 和首席技术官 Jeff Hawke 共同创立的世界模型 AI 初创公司。该公司近日完成了 3.1 亿美元的 B 轮融资，估值达到 14.5 亿美元。本轮融资由 Natural Capital 领投，亚马逊、AMD Ventures、GV 等机构参投。

World models are the next big thing in AI beyond text- and chat-based large language models. They gather data from the physical world and simulate it with accurate physics. 世界模型是继基于文本和对话的大型语言模型之后，人工智能领域的下一个风口。它们通过收集物理世界的数据，并利用精确的物理规律进行模拟。

In Odyssey’s case, it has mimicked how Google Earth gathered data; the startup sent people out with cameras strapped to their backs. (Google drives camera-equipped cars around.) That approach makes sense given the backgrounds of the founders. 以 Odyssey 为例，它借鉴了谷歌地球（Google Earth）收集数据的方式：派遣工作人员背着摄像头进行实地采集。（谷歌则是通过驾驶配备摄像头的汽车来完成。）考虑到创始人的背景，这种做法合乎情理。

Cameron was the co-founder and CEO of autonomous vehicle startup Voyage, which was acquired by GM’s Cruise, where he later became VP of product; Hawke was an engineer at buzzy U.K. self-driving startup Wayve. Cameron 曾是自动驾驶初创公司 Voyage 的联合创始人兼首席执行官，该公司后来被通用汽车旗下的 Cruise 收购，他随后担任了 Cruise 的产品副总裁；而 Hawke 则曾是英国热门自动驾驶初创公司 Wayve 的工程师。

Odyssey, founded in 2023, now offers a handful of world models for a variety of use cases, from video-game creation to robotics. It is perhaps best known for producing rich, interactive video from text prompts. Odyssey 成立于 2023 年，目前提供多种世界模型，适用于从电子游戏创作到机器人技术等多种应用场景。它最出名的功能或许是通过文本提示生成丰富且具有交互性的视频。

With the backing from Amazon, the startup says AWS is now its preferred cloud provider and it will optimize its models to run on AWS’s Trainium chips, a competitor to Nvidia’s AI chips. 在获得亚马逊的支持后，该公司表示 AWS 已成为其首选云服务提供商，并将优化其模型，使其能够在 AWS 的 Trainium 芯片（英伟达 AI 芯片的竞争对手）上运行。

In addition to the VCs that participated in this unicorn-crowning round, Odyssey has corralled an impressive list of angel investors as well. These include Jeff Dean, Elad Gil, Garry Tan, Guillermo Rauch, and Cruise founder Kyle Vogt. The company has now raised $337 million to date. 除了参与本轮融资的风险投资机构外，Odyssey 还吸引了一批令人瞩目的天使投资人，包括 Jeff Dean、Elad Gil、Garry Tan、Guillermo Rauch 以及 Cruise 创始人 Kyle Vogt。截至目前，该公司已累计融资 3.37 亿美元。