While OpenAI pursues yet another monster fundraise, it is not stealing all the oxygen in the room: AI startups building promising foundational models can still open doors, and checkbooks. Multiple sources tell us that Black Forest Labs — a startup that’s building generative AI image models and came out of stealth two months ago with $31 million in funding — is closing new funding. A $100 million round at a $1 billion valuation is the amount we are hearing. The deal may not be final and so could still be subject to change.








