Crunchbase reports that Flourish, an AI startup building models inspired by neuroscience and the human brain, has raised $500 million in initial funding. The round was backed by Jeff Bezos, Lux Capital, and Google Ventures, making it one of the largest seed-stage AI funding announcements of the year. Flourish is developing AI architectures that move away from the transformer-based approach dominant in today's large language models. Details on the company's specific technical direction or launch timeline remain limited, but the size of the raise signals strong investor conviction. The deal arrives as venture capital spending on AI continues to break records — Q1 2026 saw a global high of $300 billion invested in startups, driven largely by AI infrastructure and foundation model bets. The involvement of Google Ventures alongside Bezos adds a competitive dimension given Google's own model ambitions.