Jeff Bezos Invests in AI Firm Toloka, Boosting Nebius Shares

2025-05-12 data

Amsterdam, Monday, 12 May 2025.
Jeff Bezos’s investment in Amsterdam-based AI company Toloka boosts Nebius shares by 7%. This strategic move supports Toloka’s growth in hybrid human-AI data solutions.

Strategic Investment Details

Bezos Expeditions is leading a substantial $72 million (approximately €64 million) investment round in Toloka, announced on May 6, 2025 [1][2]. The investment positions Toloka for significant expansion while its parent company Nebius retains a majority economic stake but relinquishes voting control [3]. Alongside Bezos, Shopify’s Chief Technology Officer Mikhail Parakhin has joined the investment round and will serve as Executive Chairman of Toloka’s new Board of Directors [4].

Toloka’s Technological Capabilities

Toloka has established itself as a crucial player in AI development, managing a network of over 200,000 experts and annotators across more than 100 countries and 40 languages [5]. The company specializes in providing high-quality data essential for training and evaluating AI models, offering PhD-level domain expertise particularly focused on large language model development [6]. Their client portfolio includes major tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Shopify [7].

Growth and Innovation Focus

Under the leadership of founder and CEO Olga Megorskaya, Toloka plans to use the new funding to develop hybrid human-AI solutions that combine automation with human expertise [8]. The company has evolved significantly from its origins as a general-use crowdsourcing platform, now focusing on sophisticated AI safety evaluation and large-scale human-AI collaboration [9]. Their research contributions have gained recognition at prestigious conferences including NeurIPS and ICML [10].

Market Impact and Future Prospects

The investment announcement has had an immediate positive impact on parent company Nebius, whose shares rose 7% during afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange [11]. The company is scheduled to discuss the transaction’s implications during its upcoming earnings call on May 20, 2025 [12]. This strategic investment marks a pivotal moment for Toloka as it positions itself to meet the growing global demand for reliable, high-quality AI data solutions [13].

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AI investment Jeff Bezos