Post Thumbnail

37-year-old ex-Google employee created $1 billion business without investors

The rapid rise of Surge AI company in the data annotation industry for artificial intelligence is impressive! 37-year-old founder Edwin Chen previously worked at Dropbox, Google and Twitter. And then, relying exclusively on his own funds, he built his business. Which serves the most influential players — Google, OpenAI and Anthropic.

And Surge AI achieved cool financial indicators. Annual revenue exceeded $1 billion! That’s $130 million more than the nearest competitor Scale AI. Which attracted massive investments from venture funds. Even more amazing is that Surge AI was profitable from the first days of operation!

The secret of success lies in “elite” positioning. The company charges prices 100-400% higher than Scale AI. But guarantees impeccable quality. It’s exactly to them that OpenAI entrusted the fine-tuning of their models, and Anthropic uses their expertise for evaluating artificial intelligence safety.

Behind this stands a team of 110 high-class specialists working in New York and San Francisco. And essentially, Edwin Chen managed to create the gold standard in an industry where data annotation quality directly affects artificial intelligence performance.

Autor: AIvengo
For 5 years I have been working with machine learning and artificial intelligence. And this field never ceases to amaze, inspire and interest me.

Latest News

Researchers found AI vulnerability through facts about cats

I was mildly surprised by this news. Do you know that an ordinary mention of cats can confuse the most advanced artificial intelligence models? Scientists discovered an amazing vulnerability in neural networks' thinking processes.

US IT companies fired 94,000 employees in six months due to AI

In the first half of 2025, American IT companies fired more than 94,000 technical specialists. This is not just cost-cutting. This is structural change under the influence of artificial intelligence.

OpenAI hired the first psychiatrist in the AI industry to study ChatGPT's impact on the psyche

OpenAI company announced that it hired a professional clinical psychiatrist with experience in forensic psychiatry. To research the impact of its artificial intelligence products on users' mental health.

Historic milestone: Amazon's millionth robot delivered to Japan

Amazon reached a historic milestone! And after 13 years of implementing robots in its warehouse facilities, the company announced reaching the mark of 1 million robotic devices. The millionth robot was recently delivered to an Amazon warehouse in Japan.

Chinese New Year canceled: Alibaba works nights on DeepSeek response

A real technological race erupted in China, where Alibaba engineers faced an unprecedented situation. They had to cancel their vacations. And work even during Chinese New Year. And this is one of the most significant and revered holidays in all of China!