Cisco has launched a $1 billion fund to invest in artificial intelligence startups, joining a growing number of tech giants seeking to take stakes in smaller AI companies.

The company is investing in Cohere, Mistral AI, Scale AI, and others through its investment arm, and has already invested nearly $200 million from its funds.

Scale AI, an artificial intelligence data startup, is valued at about $14 billion, and so-called core model developers Cohere and Mistral are reportedly in talks with investors to raise $5 billion each.

Foundation AI models are created using massive amounts of data and can be used in a variety of use cases.

Since Microsoft-backed OpenAI sparked the AI craze with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, several technology companies, including Meta and Amazon, have also invested in various AI startups.

Over the past few years, Cisco has made more than 20 acquisitions and investments in AI, advancing generative artificial intelligence and machine learning development as well as artificial intelligence integration across its portfolio.

Cisco recently announced a groundbreaking AI cluster solution with NVIDIA for data centers that is transforming the way customers build, manage, and optimize their infrastructure and software.

Simplifying networking with the Cisco Networking Cloud, Cisco is bringing to market a new turnkey, end-to-end infrastructure solution for scaling generative AI workloads. The Cisco Nexus HyperFabric AI cluster solution combines the networking capabilities of Cisco AI with accelerated computing, NVIDIA AI software, and powerful VAST data storage. It is designed to help customers focus on AI-driven innovation and new revenue opportunities rather than IT management