Chamath Palihapitiya has announced that his AI coding startup, 8090 Labs, has closed a $135 million Series A round. He is stepping up as CEO to run it full-time, leaving his role as a venture capitalist and All-In podcast host.
Palihapitiya, best known for building Social Capital and co-hosting the All-In podcast with David Friedberg, David Sacks, and Jason Calacanis, is betting his reputation on the idea that AI coding agents are the next frontier.
Salesforce Ventures led the funding round, with Jason Calacanis, David Friedberg, and David Sacks also investing as fellow All-In hosts. Angel investors Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks CEO) and Adam D'Angelo (Quora CEO) participated as well.
8090 Labs, founded in January 2024, has built Software Factory — a tool designed for corporate programming teams to use AI to build production-quality software. The company offers enterprise controls like audit trails and security features that distinguish it from simpler prototypes.
In a post on X, Palihapitiya explained why he is taking on the full-time operating role: "Since I left Facebook, I was waiting for a moment like this to return to a full-time operating role. I am convinced that what we are building now is even more important, so there was no decision to make except to be all in."
He draws parallels to the rise of social media in his early days at Facebook, suggesting the current AI shift feels equally significant.
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