tech
January 22, 2026
Humans& thinks coordination is the next frontier for AI, and they're building a model to prove it
Humans&, a new startup founded by alumni of Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI, and Google DeepMind, is building the next generation of foundation models for collaboration, not chat.
TL;DR
- Humans& is a new startup founded by former employees of Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI, and Google DeepMind.
- The company raised a $480 million seed round to build a 'central nervous system' for human-AI collaboration.
- Humans& aims to develop a new foundation model architecture focused on social intelligence for better coordination and collaboration.
- The startup plans to create a product that could potentially replace or enhance platforms like Slack, Google Docs, and Notion.
- Humans& will use training methods like long-horizon and multi-agent reinforcement learning to improve the AI's ability to plan, act, and collaborate over time.
- The company intends to own the collaboration layer, acting as 'connective tissue' across organizations.
- Humans& is not looking to be acquired and believes it can become a generational company.