Sakana AI

Sakana AI develops AI models, research tools and enterprise applications from Tokyo, with a focus on Japan. Sakana Chat and Sakana Translate provide conversation and translation using Namazu, a model adapted to Japanese contexts. Sakana Fugu gives developers an API that coordinates multiple models on a task, while Sakana Marlin uses AB-MCTS to support business research through extended reasoning. These products complement custom AI development for Japanese enterprises and public institutions.

Founded in 2023 by CEO David Ha, chairman Ren Ito and CTO Llion Jones, Sakana AI draws on evolution and collective intelligence. Its Evolutionary Model Merge searches combinations of existing models’ layers and weights to create models with specified capabilities. The AI Scientist, developed with academic collaborators, automates computational research from generating ideas and running experiments to writing manuscripts. Research describing the system was published in Nature in 2026.

Its enterprise work includes financial AI partnerships with MUFG and Daiwa Securities; the Daiwa project entered production development for wealth-management assistance in August 2026. In its April 2026 financing update, Sakana AI reported a $200 million Series B, bringing cumulative funding to approximately $412 million at a $2.7 billion post-money valuation.