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Palihapitiya Raises $135M Series A, Takes CEO Role at AI Coding Startup

Chamath Palihapitiya has returned to a full-time executive role, announcing the closure of a 135 million dollar Series A funding round for 8090 Labs, an artificial intelligence startup he founded in January 2024. The round, led by Salesforce Ventures, marks a significant capital commitment to Palihapitiya's latest venture in the enterprise AI sector. Additional participation came from Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo, David Sacks' Craft Ventures, The Production Board, Launch, and a consortium of angel investors including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and Quora founder Adam D'Angelo. Alongside the financing, Palihapitiya confirmed his transition from a board advisory position to chief executive officer of the company. 8090 Labs is developing Software Factory, a proprietary AI coding agent engineered specifically for enterprise software development teams. Unlike consumer-facing AI coding tools that often generate untested prototypes, the platform is designed to produce production-grade code while meeting strict corporate compliance requirements. The system incorporates enterprise-grade security protocols, comprehensive audit trails, and version control mechanisms tailored for large-scale engineering workflows. The company's launch follows a deliberate strategy to address the growing demand for reliable, secure AI integration within traditional corporate software development environments. The capital raise and leadership shift underscore Palihapitiya's renewed focus on direct operational leadership. The former Facebook executive, widely recognized for his early leadership roles at the social media giant and his subsequent career in venture capital through Social Capital and the All-In podcast, stated that the current trajectory of artificial intelligence mirrors the transformative impact of the social media boom he witnessed two decades ago. He characterized the AI development cycle as a defining technological inflection point, prompting his decision to step into an active CEO role rather than remain on the sidelines. The injection of capital positions 8090 Labs to scale its engineering talent, advance its software architecture, and accelerate enterprise customer acquisition. By targeting the institutional market with compliance-focused AI development tools, the company aims to bridge the gap between experimental AI prototyping and mission-critical corporate deployment. Palihapitiya's direct involvement signals a high-conviction push into the competitive AI software development sector, where established cloud providers and specialized startups are rapidly vying for enterprise adoption. The funding round establishes 8090 Labs as a well-capitalized contender in the rapidly evolving market for AI-assisted programming infrastructure.

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