Bezos Expeditions’ $72 million investment in Toloka signals growing confidence in the human-AI collaboration model for building robust artificial intelligence systems. This strategic move not only accelerates Toloka’s expansion in the U.S. market but also highlights how the company has successfully navigated complex geopolitical challenges following its separation from Russian internet giant Yandex. The investment underscores the persistent need for human oversight in AI development even as autonomous systems become more sophisticated.
The big picture: Jeff Bezos’ personal investment firm is leading a $72 million funding round for Toloka, an AI data solutions company that helps train and evaluate AI models using human experts.
- Toloka is part of Nasdaq-listed AI infrastructure firm Nebius Group, which emerged from last year’s $5.4 billion split of Russian internet giant Yandex’s domestic and international assets.
- The company has worked with major tech players including Amazon, Microsoft, and Anthropic, positioning it at the intersection of human expertise and artificial intelligence.
Why this matters: The investment represents a significant milestone for a company that previously would have struggled to secure U.S. investment due to Russia-related sanctions.
- The deal demonstrates how the corporate restructuring that separated Nebius from Yandex has successfully opened doors to Western capital markets.
- It reinforces the industry consensus that human oversight remains essential for ensuring AI quality and reliability.
What they’re saying: Toloka emphasizes the enduring role of human experts in AI development despite advances in autonomous capabilities.
- “There will always be the need for control, verification, and help from human experts to ensure that the result is actually of high quality,” Toloka founder and CEO Olga Megorskaya told Reuters.
- Mikhail Parakhin, CTO of Shopify who is joining Toloka’s board as executive chairman, expressed excitement about joining “at a time when the demand for world-class AI data expertise is more urgent than ever.”
Key details: The investment reshapes Toloka’s governance structure while maintaining Nebius’s significant economic interest.
- Nebius will retain a “significant majority economic stake” while relinquishing majority voting control, giving Toloka operational independence.
- Shopify CTO Mikhail Parakhin is participating in the investment alongside Bezos Expeditions and will join Toloka’s new board of directors.
- Megorskaya indicated that the company anticipates another investment round in the future.
Behind the numbers: This investment follows Nebius’s own $700 million private placement late last year, which included chip giant Nvidia among its investors.
- The Bezos-led investment specifically targets Toloka’s growth in the U.S. market and its development of products that combine human expertise with AI agents.
- The deal reflects the broader trend of massive investment flowing into AI infrastructure companies during the current tech boom.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...