The Man Behind AlphaGo Thinks AI Is Taking the Wrong Path
David Silver, the creator of AlphaGo, has founded Ineffable Intelligence, a company focused on developing AI superlearners through reinforcement learning rather than large-language models. He believes current AI approaches relying on human-generated data are limited and unsustainable compared to systems that learn autonomously. Silver aims to create superintelligence capable of independent discovery in science, technology, and beyond.
- ▪David Silver developed AlphaGo, an AI that mastered the game of Go, demonstrating early signs of superintelligence.
- ▪Ineffable Intelligence has raised $1.1 billion in seed funding and is valued at $5.1 billion, a record for a European AI startup.
- ▪Silver argues that large-language models are constrained by human data, while reinforcement learning enables limitless, autonomous learning.
- ▪He plans to use simulations to train AI agents to make independent discoveries about the real world.
- ▪Silver intends to donate all his equity earnings from Ineffable Intelligence to high-impact charities focused on saving lives.
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Will KnightBusinessApr 27, 2026 10:00 AMThe Man Behind AlphaGo Thinks AI Is Taking the Wrong PathDavid Silver has a new billion-dollar company that aims to build AI “superlearners.”Photograph: Ben Peter CatchpoleCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyDavid Silver gave the world its very first glimpse of superintelligence.In 2016, an AI program he developed at Google DeepMind, AlphaGo, taught itself to play the famously difficult game of Go with a kind of mastery that went far beyond mimicry.Silver has since founded his own company, Ineffable Intelligence, that aims to build more general forms of AI superintelligence.
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