Former Google and Apple Researchers Launch a Startup to Build AI’s Missing Feedback Loop
Key takeaways
- Trajectory wants to build a platform for AI that can learn continuously, a capability that researchers have long held up as a major barrier to further AI progress.
- Trajectory has raised a $15 million seed round at a $115 million post-money valuation, led by the venture capital firm Conviction, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Radical VC, and BoxGroup.
- The other cofounders of Trajectory include Arjun Karanam, a former AI researcher at Apple who worked on the Vision Pro, and Michael Elabd, who previously worked in Google DeepMind’s robotics division.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Trajectory founders, Ronak Malde (left), Michael Elabd(center), and Arjun Karanam (right).Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Courtesy of Trajectory AIComment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story. A group of AI researchers who previously worked at Google Deep Mind, Apple, Open AI, and Meta Superintelligence Labs announced on Wednesday they’re launching a new startup called Trajectory, which aims to help companies regularly improve their AI products by training on real-world user interactions.
Trajectory wants to build a platform for AI that can learn continuously, a capability that researchers have long held up as a major barrier to further AI progress. OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic have found success training increasingly capable versions of AI models, especially for domains such as coding, math, and science. However, these systems stop getting smarter after their training is done. While there have been some recent breakthroughs in continual learning, tech companies have generally struggled to make AI products that learn from their errors in real time. In December 2025 at NeurIPS, one of the largest annual AI research conferences, Turing award winner Richard Sutton argued that continual learning is essential for building superintelligent agents.
Trajectory has raised a $15 million seed round at a $115 million post-money valuation, led by the venture capital firm Conviction, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Radical VC, and BoxGroup. Individual investors also participated in the round, including Google DeepMind’s chief scientist, Jeff Dean, as well as the so-called “godmother of AI,” Stanford professor and World Labs CEO Fei-Fei Li.