micro1
micro1 is a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence data company founded by Ali AnsariAli AnsariAli Ansari is the founder and CEO of micro1, working on AI recruiting and human-expert data for model training.Open the full entry; it began as an AI recruiting business and later shifted to providing expert-generated data, reinforcement learning environments and agent evaluation for training frontier models.
Contents8 sections
Key facts
October 2023Completing Early Funding
micro1 was founded by Ali Ansari and traces back to moontek, a software development agency he started while at UC Berkeley that supplied clients with pre-vetted engineers. An October 2023 report said micro1 had raised a $2 million pre-seed investment and then an oversubscribed $1.3 million round led by Aryan Bhatnagar and Dream Ventures, with participants including Jason Calacanis, bringing its valuation to $30 million.[1]
2025Shifting from AI Recruiting to Training Data
According to ForbesForbesForbes is an American business media brand that began with Forbes magazine, founded by B.C. Forbes in 1917. It is known for rankings such as the Forbes 400, the World’s Billionaires list and 30 Under 30, and operates Forbes.com, ForbesLive events and licensed editions in 81 countries. Since 2014 a majority stake has been held by the Hong Kong investment group Integrated Whale Media; a 2021 plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition company was terminated in 2022. It is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.Open the full entry, at the start of 2025 micro1 was still mainly an AI recruiting business with about $7 million in annual revenue; it then shifted to recruiting experts such as engineers, doctors and lawyers to generate human data for training and evaluating models at frontier AI labs, surpassing $100 million in annualized revenue by December 2025, and was valued at $500 million in September 2025.[2]
September 1, 2026Selected for a U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission Project
On September 1, 2026, micro1 announced that it had been selected to contribute to an inaugural project under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, supporting work on advanced AI systems, technical data, evaluation and expert knowledge.[3]
September 22, 2026New Funding Round at a $4 Billion Valuation
On September 22, 2026, Forbes, citing people familiar with the deal, reported that micro1 had raised more than $100 million in a new round at a $4 billion valuation, with participants including two frontier AI labs and two xAI co-founders.[2]
micro1 later said on its company blog that the Series B round was led by Dream Ventures with participation from MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft is a technology company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with businesses spanning Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, gaming and devices.Open the full entry, Javelin, Flybridge, G Squared, Up Partners and LG, and included a tender offer of about $25 million for employees.[4]
October 9, 2026Committing $1 Billion to Enterprise Data Acquisition
On October 9, 2026, micro1 announced plans to spend $1 billion over the following 12 months to buy or license de-identified operational data from businesses through its “Company Data Partnerships” program, to build reinforcement learning environments for AI models and agents, financed with capital from Citi and Hercules CapitalHercules CapitalHercules Capital is an internally managed, publicly traded business development company headquartered in San Mateo, California (NYSE: HTGC). It provides senior secured loans primarily to growth companies in technology and life sciences. Founded in 2003 and publicly listed in 2005, it also manages institutional private credit funds through Hercules Adviser.Open the full entry.[5]
October 12, 2026Publishing a Third-Quarter Update
In a quarterly update published on October 12, 2026, Ali Ansari said the company’s annual run rate had passed $1 billion and that its core team of about 180 people was spread across more than 14 countries and worked remotely.[4]
Its website positions the company as a data lab for training frontier models and evaluating agents, listing products including Realm, a reinforcement learning environment offering; Cortex, a contextual evaluation platform for agents; and robotics training data.[6]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
micro1: Official website: https://www.micro1.ai/ (opens in a new window)[6]
X: Official account: https://x.com/micro1_ai (opens in a new window)[6]
LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/micro1/ (opens in a new window)[6]
YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.youtube.com/@micro1_ai (opens in a new window)[6]
Sources
- micro1: AI Recruiting Company Raises $3.3 Million (opens in a new window)
- This 25-Year-Old Raised Over $100 Million For His AI Data Startup At A $4 Billion Valuation (opens in a new window)
- micro1 selected to support the DOE Genesis (opens in a new window)
- micro1 end of Q3 update (opens in a new window)
- micro1 announces commitment to spend $1B on enterprise data acquisition over the next 12 months (opens in a new window)
- Data lab to train frontier models & evaluate agents | micro1 (opens in a new window)