River AI: xAI Co-Founder Igor Babuschkin Raising $1B at $5B Valuation — Part of 'Neolab' Wave

Forbes / Let's Data Science·medium signal

Former xAI chief engineer and DeepMind researcher Igor Babuschkin is in talks to raise up to $1B for River AI, a new AI research startup incorporated in Nevada on April 20, targeting a $5B valuation with General Catalyst potentially leading. Babuschkin is committing $100M of personal capital. River AI joins a wave of 'neolabs' including Richard Socher's Recursive Intelligence and David Silver's venture — part of a broader exodus where 9 of 12 original xAI co-founders have now departed Musk's lab.