Reflection AI’s $2B Challenge To DeepSeek

Reflection AI’s $2B Challenge To DeepSeek

Reflection AI raises $2B to be America’s open frontier AI lab, challenging DeepSeek — marking one of the largest funding rounds for an AI startup in 2025. The one-year-old company, founded by former Google DeepMind researchers, has skyrocketed to an $8 billion valuation — a massive 15x jump from just seven months ago. Image Credits:Getty Images The ambitious startup aims to position itself as both an open-source alternative to closed AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, and a Western response to China’s rapidly advancing AI firms, including DeepSeek. Founded By DeepMind Veterans Reflection AI was launched in March 2024 by Misha Laskin , who led reward modeling for DeepMind’s Gemini project, and Ioannis Antonoglou , co-creator of AlphaGo , the AI that famously defeated the world champion in Go. Their mission is clear: to prove that top AI talent, given the right tools, can build frontier-scale models outside the walls of Big Tech. Reflection AI’s Open Frontier Vision Alongside the new funding roun…