Nat Versus the Volcano: Can an AI Investor Solve an Ancient Mystery from the Ashes of Vesuvius?Read more

Fraser Kelton, venture partner at Spark Capital. Photo via Fraser Kelton

Former OpenAI Exec Joins Spark Capital as Venture Push Into AI Heats Up

Photo: Fraser Kelton, venture partner at Spark Capital. Photo via Fraser Kelton

To gain an edge in the suddenly hot artificial intelligence category, one venture firm is hiring from the startup—OpenAI—that set off the generative AI craze in the first place.

Spark Capital has hired Fraser Kelton, the former head of product at OpenAI, as a venture partner, Kelton and Nabeel Hyatt, a Spark general partner, told The Information. Kelton, who started last week after leaving OpenAI in January, will lead investments primarily in early-stage AI startups. Part of Kelton’s focus will be sniffing out investing opportunities with a growing diaspora of alumni from OpenAI, the buzzy creator of ChatGPT.

Even before it hired Kelton, Spark had begun seeking out such deals, leading investments in the startups Anthropic and Adept AI Labs, both of which are led by former OpenAI executives. Founded in 2005, Spark built its reputation backing consumer technology companies like Postmates and Warby Parker. But recently the focus of the firm, which raised a $2.1 billion fund last February, has been squarely on AI.

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
OpenAI's Greg Brockman (left) and Google's Demis Hassabis (right). Photos by Getty.
AI Agenda google ai
OpenAI Hustles to Beat Google to Launch ‘Multimodal’ LLM
As fall approaches, Google and OpenAI are locked in a good ol’ fashioned software race, aiming to launch the next generation of large-language models: multimodal.
From left, a Google TPU, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian. Photos via Getty, Google and YouTube.
Exclusive google semiconductors
To Reduce AI Costs, Google Wants to Ditch Broadcom as Its TPU Server Chip Supplier
Google executives have extensively discussed dropping Broadcom as a supplier of artificial intelligence chips as early as 2027, according to a person with direct knowledge of the effort.
Flexport founder Ryan Petersen. Photos via Getty and Flexport.
e-commerce
Can Ryan Petersen Fix Flexport?
Ryan Petersen was getting antsy. This March, Petersen had handed over the CEO job at Flexport—the logistics company he’d founded a decade earlier, which had ballooned to an $8 billion valuation in 2022—to veteran Amazon executive Dave Clark.
Photo via Midjourney.
AI Agenda startups ai
The Rise of Startups That Help Other Startups Evaluate LLMs
All but a handful of artificial intelligence startups typically fall into one of two camps. The first group uses a single large-language model, typically OpenAI’s GPT-4, to power their applications.
Photos via Eiso Kant (left) and YouTube/VMWare Tanzu (right)
AI Agenda startups ai
How GitHub Copilot’s Co-Creator Raised $126 Million to Compete with His Former Employer
Recent interest in artificial intelligence has focused on large-language models that aim to do everything from writing Shakespearean poetry to solving math riddles.
Art by Mike Sullivan
entertainment media/telecom
Disney-Charter Deal Could Prompt More Cable TV-Streaming Bundles
Last week, Charter Communications, the No. 2 cable provider, and Walt Disney Co. cut a deal to include Disney streaming services, such as Disney+ and a new ESPN service still in the works, with Charter’s cable television packages.