Radar · Artificial Intelligence in California
Best Artificial Intelligence Companies in California, United States
The 2519 best Artificial Intelligence companies in California, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: OpenAI.
By Riya SenguptaFinancials
2519companies tracked
$133.8Bdisclosed funding
107unicorns
1403have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE × CALIFORNIA
Our analysis of 101 Artificial Intelligence companies
$80.5b in tracked funding; 99% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
101companies analysed
99%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
49unicorns
2020median founding year
16Mcombined LinkedIn audience
82%of audience held by top 3
3companies hiring publicly (12 mo)
Ranked: Best Artificial Intelligence companies in California
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Employees | Founder | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OpenAI 🦄 AI research and deployment solutions developing advanced artificial intelligence systems and tools for global… 97Tech top 7%Partners top 9%Customers top 9%Funding top 10% All 13 signals ▾Techtop 7% Partnerstop 9% Customerstop 9% Fundingtop 10% Markettop 11% Innovationtop 12% Talenttop 18% Moattop 20% Growthtop 22% Newstop 24% Producttop 26% AItop 35% Globaltop 48% Tech: 111 technologies across 8/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon S3 Partners: 47 partnership announcements in 12 mo (56 in 24 mo) · 167 contract events in 12 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 97/100 | $17.9B | 1 mo ago | Series G | 831 | Sam Altman Co-Founder & CEO | — | 4 launchs |
| 2 | Waymo 🦄 Provider of self-driving and autonomous vehicle solutions for safe and accessible transportation 90Funding top 12%Customers top 14%Patents top 15%Moat top 18% All 14 signals ▾Fundingtop 12% Customerstop 14% Patentstop 15% Moattop 18% Markettop 22% Newstop 26% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Producttop 32% Innovationtop 33% Techtop 37% Partnerstop 37% Globaltop 45% Growthtop 48% Funding: Raised $11.1B across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 6 yrs (0.8/yr) Customers: Play-Store rating 4.90★ across 47,017 ratings (1 apps) · Review volume +188% in 6 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 90/100 | $11.1B | 4 mo ago | Series D | 2,297 2,297 → 4,503 (+96%) | Anthony Levandowski Co-Founder | 6,150 patents Autonomous driving perception, prediction, sensor fusion, and vehicle control systems | 1 launch · 2 partnerships |
| 3 | xAI 🦄 Platform providing AI-powered assistant for image generation and trend analysis 96Funding top 10%Partners top 17%Innovation top 20%Moat top 20% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 10% Partnerstop 17% Innovationtop 20% Moattop 20% Markettop 21% Talenttop 21% Newstop 24% Growthtop 25% AItop 26% Producttop 26% Techtop 27% Globalbottom 46% Funding: Raised $6.1B across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 3 yrs (3.0/yr) Partners: 4 partnership announcements in 12 mo (5 in 24 mo) · 13 contract events in 12 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 96/100 | $6.1B | 5 mo ago | Acquired | — | Elon Musk Co-Founder & CEO | — | 6 launchs |
| 4 | Anthropic 🦄 Provider of AI safety and research company 97Funding top 7%Partners top 13%Innovation top 17%News top 17% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 7% Partnerstop 13% Innovationtop 17% Newstop 17% Talenttop 17% AItop 20% Growthtop 21% Techtop 22% Producttop 22% Moattop 24% Markettop 26% Globaltop 48% Funding: Raised $4.5B across 17 rounds · 17 rounds over 5 yrs (3.4/yr) Partners: 11 partnership announcements in 12 mo (15 in 24 mo) · 58 contract events in 12 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 97/100 | $4.5B | 1 mo ago | Series G | 73 | Benjamin Mann Co-Founder | — | — |
| 5 | Lambda AI 🦄 Provider of supercomputers, clusters, and instances for artificial intelligence development 84Funding top 9%Tech top 21%Moat top 27%Patents top 29% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 9% Techtop 21% Moattop 27% Patentstop 29% AItop 30% Innovationtop 31% Markettop 36% Growthtop 45% Globaltop 46% Talentbottom 49% Funding: Raised $4.3B across 12 rounds · 12 rounds over 7 yrs (1.7/yr) Tech: 60 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon S3 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 84/100 | $4.3B | 1 mo ago | Series E | — | Stephen Balaban Co-Founder & CEO | 36 patents Patents concentrated in electrical & electronics | 2 launchs |
| 6 | Anduril 🦄 Provider of AI-driven defense and autonomous systems across air, land, sea, and space domains 96Funding top 11%Innovation top 14%Patents top 14%Tech top 17% All 13 signals ▾Fundingtop 11% Innovationtop 14% Patentstop 14% Techtop 17% Markettop 21% Moattop 22% Growthtop 25% Partnerstop 26% AItop 30% Newstop 33% Producttop 38% Talenttop 41% Globaltop 47% Funding: Raised $3.8B across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 7 yrs (1.1/yr) Innovation: 329 patents (top 5% of patent-holders) · 300 filings since 2022 vs 29 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 96/100 | $3.8B | 1 mo ago | Series H | 2,193 | Matt Grimm Co-Founder & COO | 329 patents Patents concentrated in transport & manufacturing processes | — |
| 7 | Nuro 🦄 Developer of autonomous driving technology for automakers and mobility providers 89Funding top 13%AI top 20%Growth top 22%Moat top 22% All 13 signals ▾Fundingtop 13% AItop 20% Growthtop 22% Moattop 22% Patentstop 23% Newstop 26% Markettop 32% Talenttop 34% Partnerstop 37% Innovationtop 38% Producttop 41% Techtop 42% Globalbottom 42% Funding: Raised $2.1B across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 8 yrs (0.8/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 89/100 | $2.1B | 9 mo ago | Series E | 1,005 1,005 → 1,117 (+11%) | Dave Ferguson Co-Founder & Co-CEO | 294 patents Autonomous vehicle sensing, diagnostics, control, and communication systems integration | 1 internship · 1 partnership · 1 expansion |
| 8 | Scale AI 🦄 Labeled data to train AI applications 90Funding top 16%AI top 18%Tech top 19%Moat top 23% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 16% AItop 18% Techtop 19% Moattop 23% Markettop 28% Innovationtop 28% Patentstop 32% Partnerstop 35% Growthtop 40% Globaltop 45% Talentbottom 49% Newsbottom 42% Funding: Raised $1.6B across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 10 yrs (0.8/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Holds AI/ML patents (G06N-family CPC) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 90/100 | $1.6B | 12 mo ago | Series G | 531 | Alexandr Wang Founder & CEO | 30 patents AI-powered data labeling, dataset curation, and sampling for computer vision and document extraction | 1 partnership |
| 9 | SambaNova Systems 🦄 Provider of AI-powered software and hardware 93Innovation top 13%Patents top 13%Funding top 14%Tech top 19% All 13 signals ▾Innovationtop 13% Patentstop 13% Fundingtop 14% Techtop 19% AItop 22% Moattop 22% Newstop 23% Markettop 29% Partnerstop 32% Growthtop 39% Producttop 41% Globaltop 47% Talentbottom 49% Innovation: 589 patents (top 2% of patent-holders) · 511 filings since 2022 vs 78 in 2017-21 Patents: 589 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 511 filings since 2022 vs 78 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 93/100 | $1.1B | 3 mo ago | Series E | 497 497 → 406 (-18%) | Christopher Re Co-Founder | 589 patents Reconfigurable AI accelerator hardware for high‑bandwidth, dataflow‑optimized neural network processing | — |
| 10 | WeRide 🦄 AI-driven autonomous vehicle technologies 76Funding top 18%News top 22%Product top 26%Talent top 28% All 14 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% Newstop 22% Producttop 26% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Partnerstop 32% Markettop 35% Moattop 35% Techtop 36% Fin. healthtop 38% Growthtop 44% Globaltop 50% Innovationbottom 39% Patentsbottom 39% Funding: Raised $1.1B across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 9 yrs (0.6/yr) News: 50 BI events in 12 mo (of 93 tracked, 8 types) · +117% YoY rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $1.1B | 10 mo ago | Public | 107 | Tony Han Co-Founder & CEO | 32 patents Autonomous vehicle perception, mapping, and speed control using LiDAR and optical sensors | 2 partnerships · 1 expansion · 1 award |
| 11 | Physical Intelligence 🦄 Developer of AI models and learning algorithms for physical robots 83Funding top 14%AI top 20%Growth top 28%Talent top 28% All 8 signals ▾Fundingtop 14% AItop 20% Growthtop 28% Talenttop 28% Moattop 32% Markettop 40% Globalbottom 48% Techbottom 45% Funding: Raised $1.1B across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 83/100 | $1.1B | 6 mo ago | Series B | — | Chelsea Finn Co-Founder | — | — |
| 12 | Groq 🦄 Provider of AI inference platforms and on-premise AI inference clusters 96Funding top 15%Patents top 16%Innovation top 17%Tech top 18% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 15% Patentstop 16% Innovationtop 17% Techtop 18% AItop 18% Partnerstop 21% Moattop 22% Growthtop 23% Newstop 23% Markettop 29% Talenttop 34% Globalbottom 42% Funding: Raised $1.0B across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 10 yrs (0.5/yr) Patents: 240 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 157 filings since 2022 vs 83 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 96/100 | $1.0B | 9 mo ago | Series E | 165 165 → 313 (+90%) | Jonathan Ross CEO | 240 patents Hardware and software techniques for high‑performance tensor/AI accelerator design and reliability. | — |
| 13 | Shield AI 🦄 Developer of AI-powered platforms and software for defense applications 93Funding top 9%Product top 18%Talent top 22%Moat top 26% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 9% Producttop 18% Talenttop 22% Moattop 26% Markettop 28% Growthtop 29% AItop 30% Innovationtop 32% Techtop 33% Newstop 36% Partnerstop 43% Globaltop 48% Funding: Raised $930M across 16 rounds · 16 rounds over 11 yrs (1.5/yr) Product: 4 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series G rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 93/100 | $930M | 2 mo ago | Series G | 364 | Brandon Tseng Co-Founder | — | 1 partnership |
| 14 | KoBold Metals 🦄 Developer of mineral exploration technology and operator of mining projects 80Funding top 17%Moat top 22%Talent top 28%Patents top 30% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 17% Moattop 22% Talenttop 28% Patentstop 30% AItop 30% Innovationtop 31% Growthtop 35% Markettop 46% Techtop 50% Globalbottom 48% Newsbottom 32% Funding: Raised $892M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 7 yrs (0.6/yr) Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · IP moat: 22 patents rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 80/100 | $892M | 7 mo ago | Series D | 62 | Josh Goldman Co-Founder & President | 22 patents Muon tomography and superconducting induction loops for subsurface mineral exploration. | — |
| 15 | Figure 🦄 Developer of AI-powered humanoid robots designed for everyday home assistance 76Funding top 15%Patents top 23%News top 24%Moat top 25% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 15% Patentstop 23% Newstop 24% Moattop 25% AItop 26% Growthtop 32% Innovationtop 33% Producttop 45% Markettop 46% Techtop 50% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 39% Funding: Raised $754M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 3 yrs (1.3/yr) Patents: 81 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 78 filings since 2022 vs 2 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $754M | 9 mo ago | Series C | 49 | Brett Adcock Founder & CEO | 81 patents Patents concentrated in transport & manufacturing processes | 1 launch · 1 partnership |
| 16 | Cerebras 🦄 Provider of high-performance AI infrastructure and wafer-scale computing solutions 96Funding top 10%Tech top 17%News top 18%Growth top 20% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 10% Techtop 17% Newstop 18% Growthtop 20% Talenttop 23% Moattop 26% AItop 30% Partnerstop 32% Markettop 33% Globaltop 42% Funding: Raised $750M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 10 yrs (0.9/yr) Tech: 44 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Vercel rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 96/100 | $750M | 2 mo ago | Public | — | Michael James Co-Founder | — | 1 launch |
| 17 | Uniphore 🦄 Provider of a business artificial intelligence platform with agentic and model layers 72Moat top 15%Market top 25%Innovation top 29%Funding top 30% All 11 signals ▾Moattop 15% Markettop 25% Innovationtop 29% Fundingtop 30% Techtop 34% Newstop 36% Globaltop 37% Talenttop 38% Productbottom 49% Fin. healthbottom 45% Growthbottom 40% Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · Unicorn Market: 355 employees (top 6% of High Tech) · Revenue ~$24.9M rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 72/100 | $657M | 7 mo ago | Series F | 355 355 → 885 (+149%) | Umesh Sachdev Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 18 | Nexthop AI 🦄 AI infrastructure for cloud infrastructure 76Funding top 13%AI top 20%Moat top 27%Growth top 35% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 13% AItop 20% Moattop 27% Growthtop 35% Innovationtop 40% Markettop 44% Globaltop 49% Talentbottom 49% Techbottom 48% Patentsbottom 44% Funding: Raised $610M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $610M | 3 mo ago | Series B | — | Anshul Sadana Founder & CEO | 22 patents Advanced routing, BGP management, and secure wireless WAN protocol technologies | 3 awards |
| 19 | Skydio 🦄 Manufacturer of autonomous drones and related software, services, and accessories 94Patents top 13%Funding top 14%Tech top 16%AI top 20% All 13 signals ▾Patentstop 13% Fundingtop 14% Techtop 16% AItop 20% Moattop 22% Innovationtop 24% Talenttop 28% Markettop 30% Growthtop 30% Newstop 31% Producttop 38% Customerstop 49% Globalbottom 48% Patents: 614 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 513 filings since 2022 vs 98 in 2017-21 Funding: Raised $570M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 11 yrs (0.6/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 94/100 | $570M | 1 mo ago | Series F | 332 | Abraham Bachrach Co-Founder & CTO | 614 patents Autonomous drone navigation, perception, control, and adaptive communication for aerial robotics. | 2 job openings |
| 20 | Vercel 🦄 Provider of cloud infrastructure and developer tools for web applications 94Funding top 13%Market top 20%AI top 20%Growth top 25% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 13% Markettop 20% AItop 20% Growthtop 25% Moattop 26% Newstop 27% Producttop 27% Techtop 28% Globaltop 42% Talenttop 50% Funding: Raised $563M across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 6 yrs (1.0/yr) Market: 455 employees (top 8% of Enterprise Infrastructure) · Top-5,000 web property rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 94/100 | $563M | 8 mo ago | Series F | 455 | Naoyuki Kanezawa Co-Founder | — | 4 launchs · 1 partnership |
| 21 | Unconventional AI 🦄 Developer of computer systems optimizing energy efficiency for artificial intelligence 69Funding top 22%Talent top 28%Moat top 32%Market top 44% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 22% Talenttop 28% Moattop 32% Markettop 44% AItop 45% Techbottom 46% Globalbottom 33% Funding: Raised $475M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 69/100 | $475M | 6 mo ago | Seed | — | Sara Achour Co-Founder | — | 1 launch · 2 awards |
| 22 | Perplexity 🦄 AI-powered search and answer generation 87Customers top 10%Funding top 11%Tech top 21%Growth top 25% All 14 signals ▾Customerstop 10% Fundingtop 11% Techtop 21% Growthtop 25% Partnerstop 27% Producttop 28% AItop 30% Newstop 31% Moattop 32% Innovationtop 35% Talenttop 45% Markettop 47% Patentstop 49% Globalbottom 39% Customers: Play-Store rating 4.58★ across 2,016,194 ratings (2 apps) · Review volume +5894% in 6 mo Funding: Raised $415M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 3 yrs (3.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 87/100 | $415M | 6 mo ago | Series E | 8 | Johnny Ho Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer | 4 patents Enhanced query processing and client-side search acceleration for augmented search engines | — |
| 23 | Bedrock Robotics 🦄 Developer of autonomous technology for transforming construction and industrial equipment 82Funding top 14%AI top 20%Moat top 27%Talent top 28% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 14% AItop 20% Moattop 27% Talenttop 28% Markettop 43% Techtop 46% Globalbottom 48% Funding: Raised $350M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 82/100 | $350M | 4 mo ago | Series B | — | Kevin Peterson Co-Founder & CTO | — | 1 job opening |
| 24 | SiMa.ai Developer of hardware and software platform for physical artificial intelligence 69Funding top 15%AI top 22%Moat top 31%Partners top 32% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 15% AItop 22% Moattop 31% Partnerstop 32% Talenttop 38% Techtop 41% Markettop 45% Producttop 45% Growthtop 47% Newstop 49% Innovationbottom 48% Globalbottom 37% Funding: Raised $330M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 6 yrs (1.2/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Product described with: artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 69/100 | $330M | 2 mo ago | Series C | 161 | Krishna Rangasayee Founder and CEO | — | 2 launchs · 2 partnerships |
| 25 | Upscale AI 🦄 Developer of networking infrastructure to accelerate and scale artificial intelligence 64Funding top 16%AI top 30%Moat top 37%Talent top 38% All 9 signals ▾Fundingtop 16% AItop 30% Moattop 37% Talenttop 38% Techtop 43% Markettop 44% Globaltop 44% Patentsbottom 39% Innovationbottom 32% Funding: Raised $300M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Product described with: artificial intelligence rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 64/100 | $300M | 4 mo ago | Series A | — | Rajiv K Co-Founder | 3 patents High‑speed network switching fabrics and industrial microwave material processing technologies | 1 partnership |
| 26 | Sierra 🦄 A conversational AI platform that helps businesses to build customer experiences 87Funding top 12%AI top 20%Moat top 26%Growth top 28% All 8 signals ▾Fundingtop 12% AItop 20% Moattop 26% Growthtop 28% Talenttop 28% Techtop 32% Markettop 46% Globalbottom 37% Funding: Raised $285M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 2 yrs (2.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 87/100 | $285M | 1 mo ago | Series E | — | Bret Taylor Co-Founder | — | — |
| 27 | Replit 🦄 AI platform to build apps, websites, and software instantly 95Tech top 11%Funding top 14%Customers top 14%Growth top 16% All 13 signals ▾Techtop 11% Fundingtop 14% Customerstop 14% Growthtop 16% AItop 20% Newstop 27% Moattop 28% Innovationtop 31% Markettop 32% Producttop 37% Talenttop 38% Patentstop 42% Globalbottom 39% Tech: 69 technologies across 7/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Google Cloud Funding: Raised $272M across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 8 yrs (1.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 95/100 | $272M | 3 mo ago | Series D | 92 | Haya Odeh Co-Founder | 14 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | 1 launch |
| 28 | Parallel Web Systems 🦄 Developer of an API providing web search for AI applications 84Funding top 15%Growth top 20%AI top 20%Moat top 32% All 8 signals ▾Fundingtop 15% Growthtop 20% AItop 20% Moattop 32% Talenttop 38% Markettop 44% Techtop 44% Globalbottom 45% Funding: Raised $230M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 5,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 84/100 | $230M | 1 mo ago | Series B | — | Travers Nisbet Co-Founder | — | 2 partnerships |
| 29 | Chai Discovery 🦄 Developer of artificial intelligence models for de novo molecular design 72Funding top 14%Talent top 28%AI top 30%Moat top 32% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 14% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Moattop 32% Markettop 48% Globalbottom 48% Techbottom 42% Funding: Raised $230M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) Talent: 4 named leaders on record · 4 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 72/100 | $230M | 6 mo ago | Series B | — | Joshua Meier Co-Founder | — | 1 partnership |
| 30 | Factory 🦄 Developer of artificial intelligence solutions for industrial automation and optimization 80Funding top 14%Growth top 28%Tech top 28%AI top 30% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 14% Growthtop 28% Techtop 28% AItop 30% Moattop 32% Talenttop 38% Markettop 46% Patentstop 46% Innovationtop 48% Globalbottom 40% Funding: Raised $220M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 3 yrs (1.3/yr) Growth: Web rank 5,000,000 → 1,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 80/100 | $220M | 2 mo ago | Series C | — | Eno Reyes Co-Founder & CTO | 24 patents Patents concentrated in electrical & electronics | 4 launchs |
| 31 | Iambic Therapeutics Provider of AI-driven drug discovery platform for the treatment of cancer 60Funding top 15%AI top 26%Moat top 31%Talent top 38% All 9 signals ▾Fundingtop 15% AItop 26% Moattop 31% Talenttop 38% Growthtop 45% Marketbottom 43% Newsbottom 43% Techbottom 40% Globalbottom 39% Funding: Raised $206M across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 5 yrs (1.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Product described with: ai driven, ai-driven rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 60/100 | $206M | 2 mo ago | Series C | 50 | Fred Manby Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 32 | Cognition 🦄 Developer of an AI software engineer designed to automate coding 80Funding top 13%AI top 20%Growth top 24%News top 25% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 13% AItop 20% Growthtop 24% Newstop 25% Moattop 28% Talenttop 28% Techtop 37% Innovationtop 47% Markettop 50% Patentsbottom 48% Globalbottom 37% Funding: Raised $196M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 80/100 | $196M | 0 mo ago | Series D | — | Steven Hao Co-Founder | 7 patents Patents concentrated in health & consumer products | 3 launchs · 2 partnerships |
| 33 | Aera Developer of a decision intelligence platform providing real-time business recommendations 74Funding top 18%AI top 30%Growth top 32%Tech top 32% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% AItop 30% Growthtop 32% Techtop 32% Moattop 35% Producttop 41% Markettop 44% Talentbottom 49% Innovationbottom 45% Globalbottom 45% Patentsbottom 24% Newsbottom 21% Funding: Raised $172M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 24 yrs (0.4/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Product described with: artificial intelligence rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 74/100 | $172M | 0 mo ago | Series D | 186 186 → 440 (+137%) | Frederic Laluyaux President and CEO | 2 patents Deployable aerodynamic structures for aerial vehicles (e.g., UAV wing/rotor systems) | — |
| 34 | Kodiak Robotics Developer of AI-powered ground autonomy solutions for trucking, defense, industrial 76Patents top 15%Innovation top 21%Tech top 22%Funding top 26% All 14 signals ▾Patentstop 15% Innovationtop 21% Techtop 22% Fundingtop 26% AItop 26% Moattop 26% Producttop 30% Talenttop 35% Newstop 38% Markettop 49% Fin. healthbottom 47% Growthbottom 46% Globalbottom 40% Partnersbottom 35% Patents: 198 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 194 filings since 2022 vs 4 in 2017-21 Innovation: 198 patents (top 11% of patent-holders) · 194 filings since 2022 vs 4 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $165M | 1 mo ago | Public | 182 | Don Burnette Co-Founder & CEO | 198 patents Autonomous vehicle perception, mapping, planning, and control using lidar and occlusion handling | 1 partnership |
| 35 | PaleBlueDot Platform offering scalable GPU cloud solutions tailored for enterprises and AI developers 53Funding top 21%Talent top 28%AI top 30%Tech top 46% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 21% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Techtop 46% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 25% Funding: Raised $160M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $160M | 4 mo ago | Series B | — | Sheldon Ng Co-Founder | — | — |
| 36 | Qualified Health Provider of an enterprise AI platform for healthcare systems 57Funding top 18%AI top 20%Talent top 38%Tech bottom 44% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% AItop 20% Talenttop 38% Techbottom 44% Marketbottom 40% Globalbottom 33% Funding: Raised $155M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 3 yrs (1.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 57/100 | $155M | 2 mo ago | Series B | — | Shantanu Phatakwala Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer | — | 7 job openings · 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 37 | nEye Provider of integrated silicon photonic switch for AI computing 55Funding top 17%Talent top 28%AI top 30%Moat top 40% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 17% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Moattop 40% Globalbottom 45% Techbottom 36% Marketbottom 35% Funding: Raised $149M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 3 yrs (1.0/yr) Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 55/100 | $149M | 2 mo ago | Series C | — | Kyungmok Kwon Co-Founder | — | — |
| 38 | Helm Developer of AI-first software for advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving 78Funding top 19%Product top 21%Talent top 28%AI top 30% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 19% Producttop 21% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Growthtop 31% Moattop 31% Innovationtop 32% Techtop 38% Marketbottom 41% Globalbottom 37% Funding: Raised $124M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 6 yrs (0.7/yr) Product: 9 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series D rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 78/100 | $124M | 1 mo ago | Series D | 37 | — | — | — |
| 39 | Flexiv Robotics 🦄 Manufacturer of adaptive robots and robotic solutions for industrial automation 80Funding top 20%Growth top 28%Moat top 28%AI top 30% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 20% Growthtop 28% Moattop 28% AItop 30% Markettop 35% Techtop 42% Globaltop 42% Producttop 45% Innovationtop 48% Patentstop 50% Talentbottom 49% Newsbottom 18% Funding: Raised $122M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 7 yrs (0.6/yr) Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 80/100 | $122M | 3 mo ago | Series C | 300 | Shiquan Wang Founder & CEO | 13 patents High-precision multi-axis force/torque sensing for robotic manipulators and grippers | 1 launch |
| 40 | Braintrust Provider of an AI observability platform for building quality AI products 76Funding top 19%AI top 20%Growth top 28%Tech top 36% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 19% AItop 20% Growthtop 28% Techtop 36% Talentbottom 49% Marketbottom 47% Globalbottom 36% Funding: Raised $121M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 3 yrs (1.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $121M | 3 mo ago | Series B | — | Ankur Goyal Founder & CEO | — | 2 launchs |
| 41 | Upstage Provider of AI platform for multiple task management 83Funding top 18%AI top 20%News top 23%Growth top 24% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% AItop 20% Newstop 23% Growthtop 24% Techtop 29% Innovationtop 32% Moattop 39% Producttop 45% Markettop 47% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 37% Funding: Raised $118M across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 5 yrs (1.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 83/100 | $118M | 2 mo ago | Series C | 127 | Sung Kim Co-Founder | — | — |
| 42 | Scout AI AI-powered robotic systems for defense and related applications 53Funding top 19%AI top 25%Growth top 35%Moat top 48% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 19% AItop 25% Growthtop 35% Moattop 48% Techbottom 49% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 44% Innovationbottom 38% Patentsbottom 37% Marketbottom 35% Funding: Raised $115M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Holds AI/ML patents (G06N-family CPC) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $115M | 1 mo ago | Series A | — | Collin Otis Co-Founder & CTO | 3 patents Advanced hyperspectral imaging sensors and adjustable hitch mechanisms for vehicles | — |
| 43 | JuiceBox Provider of an AI recruiting platform offering search, CRM, and agents 82Talent top 23%Funding top 26%Growth top 28%Tech top 29% All 7 signals ▾Talenttop 23% Fundingtop 26% Growthtop 28% Techtop 29% AItop 30% Globalbottom 48% Marketbottom 47% Talent: 5 named leaders on record · 5 C-suite/founder profiles curated Funding: Raised $110M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 4 yrs (0.8/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 82/100 | $110M | 3 mo ago | Series B | — | Robbie Pyle Co-Founder | — | — |
| 44 | Unframe AI Provider of a managed AI delivery platform for tailored business solutions 64Funding top 27%Talent top 28%AI top 30%Growth top 35% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 27% Talenttop 28% AItop 30% Growthtop 35% Techbottom 46% Globalbottom 45% Marketbottom 40% Funding: Raised $100M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 64/100 | $100M | 1 mo ago | Series B | — | Larissa Schneider Co-Founder & COO | — | — |
| 45 | Cognichip Developer of artificial intelligence software for semiconductor design automation tools 62Funding top 17%AI top 26%Talent top 28%Global bottom 45% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 17% AItop 26% Talenttop 28% Globalbottom 45% Techbottom 42% Marketbottom 40% Funding: Raised $93.0M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) AI: Classified as an AI company · Product described with: artificial intelligence, machine learning rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 62/100 | $93M | 2 mo ago | Series A | — | Simon Sabato Co-Founder | — | — |
| 46 | Verses Provider of AI-integrated digital twins for data distribution 74Funding top 19%Innovation top 23%Talent top 29%AI top 30% All 12 signals ▾Fundingtop 19% Innovationtop 23% Talenttop 29% AItop 30% Producttop 35% Newstop 46% Globaltop 46% Marketbottom 49% Growthbottom 47% Techbottom 45% Moatbottom 45% Partnersbottom 43% Funding: Raised $78.3M across 14 rounds · 14 rounds over 6 yrs (2.3/yr) Innovation: 4 new-product events in 24 mo · Deep-tech classification: Artificial Intelligence rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 74/100 | $78M | 3 mo ago | Public | 37 | Dan Mapes Co-Founder | — | — |
| 47 | Fathom Provider of autonomous medical coding platform and related coding services 55AI top 20%Funding top 26%Moat top 31%News top 36% All 12 signals ▾AItop 20% Fundingtop 26% Moattop 31% Newstop 36% Growthtop 38% Talenttop 38% Producttop 49% Techbottom 49% Marketbottom 45% Patentsbottom 42% Innovationbottom 34% Globalbottom 31% AI: Classified as an AI company Funding: Raised $61.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 5 yrs (0.2/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 55/100 | $61M | 1 mo ago | Series B | 79 | Andrew Lockhart Co-Founder & CEO | 9 patents On-demand additive manufacturing and automated pricing for custom 3D-printed parts and injection molds | — |
| 48 | Netomi Provider AI-based customer service management platform 64AI top 20%Funding top 23%Growth top 35%Moat top 35% All 12 signals ▾AItop 20% Fundingtop 23% Growthtop 35% Moattop 35% Newstop 36% Techtop 39% Producttop 40% Patentstop 48% Innovationtop 49% Talentbottom 49% Marketbottom 43% Globalbottom 39% AI: Classified as an agentic-AI company · Holds AI/ML patents (G06N-family CPC) Funding: Raised $52.0M across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 10 yrs (0.6/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 64/100 | $52M | 1 mo ago | Series C | 51 | Puneet Mehta Founder & CEO | 3 patents AI-driven intent classification and recommendation for conversational search interfaces. | — |
| 49 | Superb AI Provider of computer vission for training data management 67Tech top 23%Talent top 25%AI top 26%Funding top 33% All 8 signals ▾Techtop 23% Talenttop 25% AItop 26% Fundingtop 33% Growthtop 35% Globalbottom 39% Marketbottom 28% Newsbottom 18% Tech: 51 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Ses, Amazon Web Services Talent: Analyst team rating 4/5 · 5 named leaders on record rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 67/100 | $29M | 1 mo ago | Series C | 14 | Jung Kwon Lee Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 50 | Triomics Provider of clinical research and clinical trial tracking software 60AI top 20%Funding top 26%Talent top 38%Moat top 39% All 8 signals ▾AItop 20% Fundingtop 26% Talenttop 38% Moattop 39% Techtop 40% Growthtop 47% Globalbottom 43% Marketbottom 35% AI: Classified as an AI company Funding: Raised $28.9M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 5 yrs (0.6/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 60/100 | $29M | 0 mo ago | Series B | 29 | Hrituraj Singh Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
Top 12 Artificial Intelligence companies in California
#1
OpenAI 🦄Series G · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 831 employees$17.9Braised▾
OpenAI 🦄
Series G · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 831 employees
AI research and deployment solutions developing advanced artificial intelligence systems and tools for global use. It support a wide range of applications across productivity, development, and enterprise use cases. Engages in foundational AI research, model development, and safety work to improve the capabilities and reliability of large-scale AI systems. Operates as a public benefit organization with a mission centered on ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits humanity through safe and responsible deployment.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 97how this company ranks against its industry peers
Tech
top 7%Partners
top 9%Customers
top 9%Funding
top 10%Market
top 11%Innovation
top 12%Tech: 111 technologies across 8/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon S3 · Devops: Envoy, Nginx
Partners: 47 partnership announcements in 12 mo (56 in 24 mo) · 167 contract events in 12 mo · Named contractor/client in 167 deals
Customers: App rating 4.8★ (2,644,412 reviews) · Review volume +293% in 6 mo · Marquee-customer mentions: top 5% of tracked companies
Audience (LinkedIn): 11M LinkedIn followers — 69.6% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 4 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Apr 2026Series G$75M
- Mar 2026Series G$40M
- Feb 2026Series G$122B
- 2025Series E—
Founders & team
Investors
Infosys, YC Research, Amazon Web Services, Flat Capital, Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital
Tech stack
AlgoliaAmazon CloudfrontAmazon Web ServicesAmplitudeAngularjsApollo
#2
Series E · San Jose, California · founded 2012$4.3Braised▾
Series E · San Jose, California · founded 2012
Provider of supercomputers, clusters, and instances for artificial intelligence development. The company offers infrastructure for training foundation models and serving inference. It provides supercomputer resources, including high-density power, liquid cooling, and processors. The company delivers single-tenant clusters and instances optimized for artificial intelligence workloads. It focuses on security, compliance, and hardware-level isolation.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 84how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 9%Tech
top 21%Moat
top 27%Patents
top 29%AI
top 30%Innovation
top 31%Funding: Raised $4.3B across 12 rounds · 12 rounds over 7 yrs (1.7/yr) · Last round Conventional Debt (May 2026)
Tech: 60 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon S3 · Devops: Nginx
Moat: IP moat: 36 patents · Unicorn · 10 curated direct competitors tracked
Audience (LinkedIn): 53k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 2 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- May 2026Conventional Debt$1B
- Nov 2025Series E$1.5B
- Aug 2025Conventional Debt$275M
- Feb 2025Series D$480M
Founders & team
Investors
Gradient Ventures, Razer, Bloomberg Beta, 1517 Fund, SVB, Mercato Partners
Tech stack
6SenseApple Icloud MailCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsDiscourse
#3
Anduril 🦄Series H · Costa Mesa, California · founded 2017 · 2193 employees$3.8Braised▾
Anduril 🦄
Series H · Costa Mesa, California · founded 2017 · 2193 employees
Provider of AI-driven defense and autonomous systems across air, land, sea, and space domains. It develops integrated platforms that enhance situational awareness, real-time decision-making, and operational effectiveness for defense and security applications. It delivers a range of autonomous systems and software-defined defense infrastructure, including surveillance systems, unmanned platforms, and command-and-control technologies designed to operate in complex and contested environments. Its solutions support modern military needs such as border security, force protection, and multi-domain mission coordination.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 96how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 11%Innovation
top 14%Patents
top 14%Tech
top 17%Market
top 21%Moat
top 22%Funding: Raised $3.8B across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 7 yrs (1.1/yr) · Last round Series H (May 2026)
Innovation: 329 patents (top 5% of patent-holders) · 300 filings since 2022 vs 29 in 2017-21 · Deep-tech classification: Artificial Intelligence, Tech Hardware
Patents: 329 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 300 filings since 2022 vs 29 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Funding rounds
- May 2026Series H$5B
- Dec 2025Series G$30M
- Jun 2025Series G$2.5B
- Aug 2024Series F$1.5B
Founders & team
Investors
Founders Fund, Sands Capital, Fidelity Investments, Baillie Gifford, Franklin Templeton Investments, Altimeter Capital
Tech stack
Amazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesApolloAws Certificate ManagerCloudflare
#4
Series G · San Francisco, California · founded 2021 · 73 employees$4.5Braised▾
Series G · San Francisco, California · founded 2021 · 73 employees
Provider of AI safety and research company. It is an AI research and safety company offering AI models and chatbots. Its chatbot can be used for multiple industries including customer support, legal support, coaching, searching data, back-office automation, and sales.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 97how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 7%Partners
top 13%Innovation
top 17%News
top 17%Talent
top 17%AI
top 20%Funding: Raised $4.5B across 17 rounds · 17 rounds over 5 yrs (3.4/yr) · Last round Series G (Apr 2026)
Partners: 11 partnership announcements in 12 mo (15 in 24 mo) · 58 contract events in 12 mo · Named contractor/client in 58 deals
Innovation: 74 new-product events in 24 mo · Deep-tech classification: Artificial Intelligence
Funding rounds
- Apr 2026Series G$5B
- Feb 2026Series G$30B
- Jan 2026Series F$10B
- Sep 2025Series F$13B
Founders & team
Investors
Amazon, Google, Buckhill Capital, Sapphire Ventures, MIS, Qualcomm
Tech stack
Amazon S3Amazon Web ServicesBootstrapCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-Js
#5
Waymo 🦄Series D · Mountain View, California · founded 2009 · 2297 employees$11.1Braised▾
Waymo 🦄
Series D · Mountain View, California · founded 2009 · 2297 employees
Provider of self-driving and autonomous vehicle solutions for safe and accessible transportation. It is a developer of autonomous driving technology, focusing on creating safe and easy transportation systems for people and things. Utilizing machine learning, Waymo aims to improve road safety through its self-driving vehicle technology. The company has a strong research focus, publishing studies and datasets to advance the autonomous driving industry.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 90how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 12%Customers
top 14%Patents
top 15%Moat
top 18%Market
top 22%News
top 26%Funding: Raised $11.1B across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 6 yrs (0.8/yr) · Last round Series D (Feb 2026)
Customers: Play-Store rating 4.90★ across 47,017 ratings (1 apps) · Review volume +188% in 6 mo · Marquee-customer mentions: top 17% of tracked companies
Patents: 6,150 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 3364 filings since 2022 vs 2779 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Audience (LinkedIn): 377k LinkedIn followers — 2.3% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches · 2 partnerships (incl. Waze) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Feb 2026Series D$16B
- Oct 2024Series C$5.6B
- Jun 2021Series C$2.5B
- May 2020Series B$750M
Founders & team
Investors
Magna, AutoNation, CPP Investments, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Mubadala
Tech stack
Amazon AdvertisingAmazon WebstoreAngularAppnexusCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
#6
xAI 🦄Acquired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2023$6.1Braised▾
xAI 🦄
Acquired · Palo Alto, California · founded 2023
Platform providing AI-powered assistant for image generation and trend analysis. It is an artificial intelligence (AI) company focused on advancing scientific discovery and fostering a deeper understanding of the universe through its AI model, Grok. Grok is a powerful AI assistant designed to provide truthful, useful, and curious insights by leveraging real-time search, image generation, and trend analysis capabilities. Through its developer API, xAI enables seamless integration of Grok's intelligence into various projects and applications.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 96how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 10%Partners
top 17%Innovation
top 20%Moat
top 20%Market
top 21%Talent
top 21%Funding: Raised $6.1B across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 3 yrs (3.0/yr) · Last round Series E (Jan 2026)
Partners: 4 partnership announcements in 12 mo (5 in 24 mo) · 13 contract events in 12 mo · Named contractor/client in 13 deals
Innovation: 8 new-product events in 24 mo · 12 product lines · Deep-tech classification: Artificial Intelligence
Audience (LinkedIn): 252k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 6 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Jan 2026Series E$20B
- Oct 2025Series C$7.5B
- Oct 2025Conventional Debt$12.5B
- Jul 2025Conventional Debt$5B
Founders & team
Investors
Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Investments, Kingdom Holding Company, Vy Capital
Tech stack
Amazon S3Amazon Web ServicesBase UiCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCloudflare Browser Insights
#7
Cerebras 🦄Public · Sunnyvale, California · founded 2015$750Mraised▾
Cerebras 🦄
Public · Sunnyvale, California · founded 2015
Provider of high-performance AI infrastructure and wafer-scale computing solutions. It leverages proprietary wafer-scale processor technology to power generative AI, real-time reasoning, conversational AI, and intelligent agent workflows with significantly higher speed and efficiency than traditional GPU-based systems. Its offerings support cloud, on-premise, and private deployment environments, enabling organizations to build, fine-tune, and serve large AI models at scale while optimizing performance, latency, and infrastructure costs.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 96how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 10%Tech
top 17%News
top 18%Growth
top 20%Talent
top 23%Moat
top 26%Funding: Raised $750M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 10 yrs (0.9/yr) · Last round Conventional Debt (Apr 2026)
Tech: 44 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Vercel · Observability: Microsoft Clarity
News: 10 BI events in 12 mo (of 16 tracked, 6 types) · +67% YoY · 9 high-value events (IPO/M&A/funding/contracts) in 12 mo
Audience (LinkedIn): 120k LinkedIn followers · 98 engagements/post (2.0× cohort median)
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Apr 2026Conventional Debt$850M
- Feb 2026Series H$1B
- Sep 2025Series G$1.1B
- Jan 2025Grant (prize money)$1.6M
Founders & team
Investors
Benchmark, Foundation Capital, Eclipse, Open Field Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Coatue
Tech stack
CdnjsCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCloudflare Browser InsightsCookieyesGodaddy
#8
Series G · San Diego, California · founded 2015 · 364 employees$930.2Mraised▾
Series G · San Diego, California · founded 2015 · 364 employees
Developer of AI-powered platforms and software for defense applications. The company provides solutions for mission autonomy, surveillance, and object detection. Its offerings include autonomous pilot software, command and control toolkits, and autonomy development platforms. It also manufactures unmanned aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 93how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 9%Product
top 18%Talent
top 22%Moat
top 26%Market
top 28%Growth
top 29%Funding: Raised $930M across 16 rounds · 16 rounds over 11 yrs (1.5/yr) · Last round Series G (Mar 2026)
Product: 4 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series G
Talent: Analyst team rating 5/5 · 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Audience (LinkedIn): 151k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships (incl. Hivemind) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Mar 2026Series G$2B
- Feb 2025Series F$591.8M
- Dec 2023Series F$100M
- Dec 2023Venture Debt$200M
Founders & team
Investors
Andreessen Horowitz, Homebrew, Bloomberg Beta, Founder Collective, Riot, Disruptive Ventures
Tech stack
Anime.JsApple Icloud MailCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsDocusign
#9
Skydio 🦄Series F · San Mateo, California · founded 2014 · 332 employees$570Mraised▾
Skydio 🦄
Series F · San Mateo, California · founded 2014 · 332 employees
Manufacturer of autonomous drones and related software, services, and accessories. It provides drone platforms, docking stations, attachments, and software for autonomous flight, data capture, and integration. These products serve sectors including public safety, utilities, national security, inspection, transportation, construction, and oil and gas. Services include regulatory and success support, along with developer tools and training.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 94how this company ranks against its industry peers
Patents
top 13%Funding
top 14%Tech
top 16%AI
top 20%Moat
top 22%Innovation
top 24%Patents: 614 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 513 filings since 2022 vs 98 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Funding: Raised $570M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 11 yrs (0.6/yr) · Last round Series F (Apr 2026)
Tech: 90 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon Web Services · Devops: Envoy
Audience (LinkedIn): 136k LinkedIn followers · 85 engagements/post (1.7× cohort median)
Hiring (LinkedIn): 2 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +2 · hiring: Staff Global Supply Manager, Mechanicals, Senior Global Supply Manager, Camera
Funding rounds
- Apr 2026Series F$110M
- May 2024Series E$170M
- Mar 2022Series E$230M
- Feb 2021Series D$170M
Founders & team
Investors
Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, IVP, Deep Learning, Playground Global, Linse Capital
Tech stack
AffirmAmazon CloudfrontAmazon Web ServicesAmerican ExpressApple Icloud MailApple Pay
#10
Series E · Palo Alto, California · founded 2017 · 497 employees$1.1Braised▾
Series E · Palo Alto, California · founded 2017 · 497 employees
Provider of AI-powered software and hardware. The platform offers a suite of generative AI systems for enterprises and government organizations. Its suite includes ChatGPT chatbots designed for banks, law firms, healthcare providers, and other sectors.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 93how this company ranks against its industry peers
Innovation
top 13%Patents
top 13%Funding
top 14%Tech
top 19%AI
top 22%Moat
top 22%Innovation: 589 patents (top 2% of patent-holders) · 511 filings since 2022 vs 78 in 2017-21 · Deep-tech classification: Artificial Intelligence, Tech Hardware
Patents: 589 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 511 filings since 2022 vs 78 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Funding: Raised $1.1B across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 8 yrs (0.6/yr) · Last round Series E (Feb 2026)
Audience (LinkedIn): 96k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Feb 2026Series E$350M
- Apr 2021Series D$676M
- Feb 2020Series C$250M
- Apr 2019Series B$150M
Founders & team
Investors
BlackRock, Google Ventures, Walden International, Redline Capital Management, Intel Capital, Celesta Capital
Tech stack
6SenseApple Icloud MailAtlassian StatuspageCdnjsCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
#11
Series C · San Jose, California · founded 2018 · 161 employees$330Mraised▾
Series C · San Jose, California · founded 2018 · 161 employees
Developer of hardware and software platform for physical artificial intelligence. The company offers a machine learning system-on-chip, boards, and development kits. The hardware and software are designed for robotics, automotive, industrial, government, retail, and healthcare sectors. The company's platform supports computer vision, large language models, and multimodal models.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 69how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 15%AI
top 22%Moat
top 31%Partners
top 32%Talent
top 38%Tech
top 41%Funding: Raised $330M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 6 yrs (1.2/yr) · Last round Series C (Apr 2026)
AI: Classified as an AI company · Product described with: artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 8/10 · Soonicorn · 9 curated direct competitors tracked
Audience (LinkedIn): 25k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 2 product launches · 2 partnerships (incl. Mistral Solutions (a subsidiary of AXISCADES)) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Apr 2026Series C—
- Aug 2025Series C$85M
- Apr 2024Series B$70M
- Jun 2023Series B$13M
Founders & team
Investors
Dell Technologies Capital, Amplify Partners, Wing Venture Capital, ND Capital, Fidelity Investments, Alter Venture Partners
Tech stack
Amazon Web ServicesAmerican ExpressApple Icloud MailAuth0Cart FunctionalityCdnjs
#12
Sierra 🦄Series E · San Francisco, California · founded 2023$285Mraised▾
Sierra 🦄
Series E · San Francisco, California · founded 2023
A conversational AI platform that helps businesses to build customer experiences. The company provides tools to build, test, and optimize AI agents. It offers capabilities for analyzing agent performance, identifying conversations needing attention, and running tests. The company's platform allows for integrating customer data and personalizing experiences.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 87how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 12%AI
top 20%Moat
top 26%Growth
top 28%Talent
top 28%Tech
top 32%Funding: Raised $285M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 2 yrs (2.0/yr) · Last round Series E (May 2026)
AI: Classified as an AI company
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · Unicorn · 9 curated direct competitors tracked
Audience (LinkedIn): 83k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- May 2026Series E$950M
- Sep 2025Series B$350M
- Oct 2024Series A$175M
- Feb 2024Seed$110M
Founders & team
Investors
Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, Greenoaks, Iconiq Capital, Thrive Capital, Tiger Global Management
Tech stack
Apple Icloud MailAtlassian StatuspageCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsDocusign
Funding & investor landscape
$133.8Btotal disclosed funding
1,333companies funded
3,260disclosed rounds
53rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Accel51 rounds
Sequoia Capital45 rounds
Notable founders
Greg Brockman
Co-Foudner & President & Chairman · OpenAI
Sam Altman
Co-Founder & CEO · OpenAI
Stephen Balaban
Co-Founder & CEO · Lambda AI
Matt Grimm
Co-Founder & COO · Anduril
Joseph Chen
Co-Founder · Anduril
Benjamin Mann
Co-Founder · Anthropic
Jared Kaplan
Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer · Anthropic
Anthony Levandowski
Co-Founder · Waymo
Dmitri Dolgov
Co-CEO · Waymo
Elon Musk
Co-Founder & CEO · xAI
Yuhuai Wu
Co-Founder · xAI
Michael James
Co-Founder · Cerebras
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 3,646,585 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Artificial Intelligence coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH IN CALIFORNIA · AI & Compute
How research on Artificial Intelligence in California is moving
A read on the academic research around Artificial Intelligence in California — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 476 papers.
UC Berkeley, UCLA, and USC lead California's AI research, optimistically focused on neural networks, few-shot learning, and multimodal applications, with breakthroughs dominating over concerns.
476 papers · stance +0.55 · 62% breakthrough · 17% concern
top institutions
- University of California, Berkeley129
- University of California, Los Angeles45
- University of Southern California37
- University of California San Diego31
- University of California, San Diego30
leading researchers
Amy G. Vandergast · DANIEL W. WEISSMAN · David B. Weissman · Elżbieta Warchałowska-Šliwa · Norihiro Ueshima · Trevor Darrell
prism intelligence · tone & topics
92% positive · 1% critical tone
Machine LearningComputer ScienceStatisticsBiologyMathematicsHealthcare
▲
Breakthroughs258 · 54%
▲ 51%→55% share
▲1.1× share momentum1,247 median citations44% since 2021mostly methods-led
Transformer architecture research newly emerged with 7 papers, driving Breakthroughs field-share rise from 51% to 55%.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Artificial neural network4→12
- Leverage (statistics)1→6
- Context (archaeology)1→5
- Autoencoder1→4
- Set (abstract data type)2→5
Newly emergingTransformer 0→7 · Key (lock) 0→6 · Encoder 0→5
Landmark Fully convolutional networks for semantic segmentation · 36,381 cites
◆
Advancements90 · 19%
▼ 21%→18% share
▼0.9× share momentum1,307 median citations42% since 2021mostly methods-led
Artificial neural network advancements intensified sharply, rising from 1 to 7 papers in Advancements segment.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Artificial neural network1→7
Newly emergingTask (project management) 0→3 · Logistic regression 0→3
Landmark MrBayes 3.2: Efficient Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference and Model Choice Across a Large Model Space · 27,335 cites
▼
Concerns71 · 15%
▼ 19%→12% share
▼0.6× share momentum1,333 median citations37% since 2021mostly empirical
Task (project management) concerns are rising fast — papers tripled from 2 to 6 alongside newly emerging Language model risks.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Task (project management)2→6
- Artificial neural network1→3
Newly emergingLanguage model 0→3 · Pattern recognition (psychology) 0→3
Landmark Outcomes for Implementation Research: Conceptual Distinctions, Measurement Challenges, and Research Agenda · 8,411 cites
Common questions
How many Artificial Intelligence companies are there in California, United States?
Radar tracks 2519 indexable Artificial Intelligence companies headquartered in California, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Artificial Intelligence companies in California, United States?
The Artificial Intelligence companies in California, United States on this list have raised a combined $133.8B in disclosed equity funding across 1333 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Artificial Intelligence company in California, United States?
OpenAI is the highest-funded Artificial Intelligence company in California, United States, with $17.9B in disclosed equity funding.
How many Artificial Intelligence companies in California, United States are funded?
1333 of the 2519 Artificial Intelligence companies in California, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Artificial Intelligence unicorns are there in California, United States?
107 Artificial Intelligence companies in California, United States on this list are valued at $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in California, United States Artificial Intelligence companies?
The most active investors in California, United States Artificial Intelligence companies on this list include Y Combinator, Plug and Play Tech Center, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel.
Riya SenguptaFinancials
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.