Jeff Bezos Invests $72 Million in Amsterdam AI Company Toloka

2025-05-08 data

Amsterdam, Thursday, 8 May 2025.
Jeff Bezos has led a $72 million investment in Dutch AI firm Toloka, aiming to accelerate its global growth and innovation, particularly in the U.S. market.

Strategic Investment and Leadership Changes

The investment, announced on May 7, 2025, is being led by Bezos Expeditions, Jeff Bezos’s investment arm, with notable participation from Mikhail Parakhin, the Chief Technology Officer of Shopify [1][2]. As part of this strategic move, Parakhin will assume the role of Executive Chairman of Toloka’s Board of Directors [3]. The company’s founder, Olga Megorskaya, will continue as CEO and join the new Board of Directors [4].

Toloka’s Expertise and Market Position

Toloka has established itself as a crucial player in the AI development landscape, specializing in providing data solutions for training and evaluating AI models. The company maintains a robust platform managing over 200,000 experts and annotators across more than 50 verified knowledge domains, spanning 100+ countries and 40+ languages [5]. Their client portfolio includes major technology leaders such as Anthropic, Amazon, Microsoft, and Shopify [5][6].

Corporate Structure and Market Impact

Following the investment, Nebius (formerly known as Yandex) will maintain a significant economic stake while relinquishing majority voting control of Toloka [4]. The market responded positively to this announcement, with Nebius’s stock rising 7 percent on the New York Stock Exchange on May 7, 2025 [7]. This structural change marks a significant shift for Toloka, providing greater operational independence while maintaining strong strategic partnerships [3].

Future Growth and Development

The investment will fuel Toloka’s expansion, particularly in the United States market, focusing on developing hybrid human-AI solutions [8]. The company’s approach emphasizes the critical role of human expertise in AI development, combining automation with human oversight to ensure high-quality outcomes [5]. This strategic investment positions Toloka to advance its research contributions, which have already been recognized at prestigious conferences like NeurIPS and ICML [5].

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