About
Sakana AI is a Tokyo-based Frontier AI R&D company founded by David Ha (CEO), Ren Ito (Chairman), and Llion Jones (CTO) in 2023. Our team, behind technologies such as The AI Scientist, Multi-Agent Orchestration Foundation Models, our Namazu LLMs for Japan, and the Darwin Gödel Machine, is constantly pushing the frontier of AI research. Our company is also working with the largest enterprises and with the public sector in Japan, to develop AI solutions for Japan's needs, and democratize AI in Japan.
Leadership
David Ha
Co-Founder & CEO
Former Research Scientist at Google, where he led the Japan Research Team at Google Brain. His primary research areas include complex self-organizing systems and the self-evolution of artificial intelligence.
Ren Ito
Co-Founder & Chairman
Graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law, then joined Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Holds a New York State bar license. After executive roles at Mercari and Stability AI, he co-founded Sakana AI in 2023.
Llion Jones
Co-Founder & CTO
Co-author of the landmark "Attention Is All You Need" paper, which introduced the Transformer architecture underlying modern LLMs.
Team
Research
We share unique, cutting-edge research inspired by the collective intelligence of nature — including The AI Scientist, Darwin Gödel Machine, ShinkaEvolve, and AB-MCTS.
Applied
At the frontier of finance, defense, and intelligence, we draw out tacit knowledge into AI, combine multiple models, and design and implement solutions that reach directly into Japan's social infrastructure.
Product
We develop and deliver user-facing AI products — including Sakana Chat, Sakana Marlin, and Sakana Fugu — translating cutting-edge research into accessible tools.
Corporate
We support Sakana AI's mission through finance, legal, HR, and operations, building the foundation to keep running at the frontier of AI research.
Logo
Sakana AI logo is inspired by creatures in nature, such as schools of fish. Just as fish move together and adapt fluidly to their environment, Sakana AI incorporates this concept of "collective intelligence" into its AI development, pursuing a new type of generative AI model that can adapt and respond to its surroundings.
Company Overview
| Company Name | Sakana AI K.K. |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 2023 |
| Headquarters | Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower 22F, 1-3-1 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-0041 JAPAN |
| Representative |
David Ha, CEO & Co-Founder Ren Ito, Chairman & Co-Founder |
Funding
| Latest Round | Series B |
|---|---|
| Investors (Japan) | ITOCHU Group, ANA Holdings, MPower Partners, SBI Group, STNet (Shikoku Electric Power Group), Global Brain, KDDI, CCI Group, JAFCO, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, NEC, Nippon Life Insurance, Nomura Holdings, Fujitsu, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Mitsubishi Electric, Mizuho Financial Group, Miyako Capital, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, and others. |
| Investors (Overseas) | 500 Global, Basis Set Ventures, Citi Group, Datadog, Factorial Funds, Fundomo, Geodesic Capital, Google, In-Q-Tel (IQT), July Fund, Khosla Ventures, Learn Capital, Lux Capital, Macquarie Capital, Mouro Capital (via Santander Group), New Enterprise Associates (NEA), NVIDIA, Ora Global, Salesforce Ventures, Translink Capital, and others. |
Policies