Artificial intelligence startup Simile emerged from stealth mode Thursday with $100 million in funding to build technology that predicts human behavior, marking a significant bet on AI's ability to forecast decisions ranging from customer purchases to questions analysts might ask during corporate earnings calls.
The funding round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, A*, and Hanabi Capital. Notable AI pioneers Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy also contributed to the investment. While Simile did not disclose its valuation, the scale of funding signals strong investor confidence in behavioral prediction as a distinct AI niche.
Simile spent seven months in stealth developing an AI model trained on interviews with hundreds of people about their lives, combined with historic transaction data and text from scientific journals focused on behavioral experiments. The company's system creates simulations populated by AI agents that represent the preferences and decision-making patterns of real people.
"At Simile, we have built the first AI simulation of society, populated by agents based on real humans," the company stated. "Our research pioneered the field of AI-based simulation, creating generative agents to prove that it is possible to simulate real people with high accuracy."
The technology aims to help companies anticipate decisions people might make in various situations. Practical applications include predicting which products customers are likely to purchase, forecasting questions that analysts might pose during earnings calls, and anticipating reactions to corporate announcements or product launches.
The founding team includes Joon Park (CEO), Michael Bernstein, Percy Liang, and Lainie Yallen, all connected to Stanford University. Bernstein notably co-authored the ImageNet project, which set benchmarks for computer vision and helped catalyze the current AI boom.
Simile's approach differs from general-purpose AI models by focusing specifically on human behavioral patterns rather than broad task completion. The technology could expand into enterprise tools for marketing, finance, and customer service, where accurate behavior forecasting drives revenue and strategic planning.
The funding aligns with broader trends in AI investment. Multiple U.S. AI startups secured $100 million or more in 2025, as tracked by industry analysts. However, the focus is shifting from general-purpose models to specialized applications that solve specific business problems.
Index Ventures has backed similar AI agent and infrastructure firms recently, suggesting continued investor interest in practical AI applications beyond foundational models. The firm's participation signals confidence that behavioral prediction represents a sustainable market opportunity.
Simile faces potential challenges including scaling simulations to larger datasets, integrating with existing AI ecosystems, and navigating regulatory scrutiny on behavioral data usage, particularly in privacy-sensitive sectors. The company will need to demonstrate accuracy advantages over existing predictive analytics tools to justify enterprise adoption.
As AI funding continues its record pace in 2026, Simile's stealth emergence and substantial raise underscore investor conviction that understanding and predicting human behavior represents a valuable frontier in artificial intelligence, with applications spanning corporate strategy, marketing, and financial planning.
