Odyssey, an AI startup building world models that simulate the physical world from real-world camera data, raised $310 million（約500億円） at a $1.45 billion（約2300億円） valuation, backed by Amazon, AMD Ventures, and others.

What happened: Odyssey, founded in 2023 by autonomous vehicle pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, closed a Series B funding round led by Natural Capital. Amazon, AMD Ventures, and GV participated. The company has raised $337 million（約540億円） to date and now offers world models—AI systems that gather physical-world data and simulate it with accurate physics—for uses ranging from video-game creation to robotics.

Why it matters: World models represent the next frontier in AI beyond text-based systems like large language models. Odyssey's approach of gathering real-world camera data mirrors how Google Earth operates, and the company is known for producing rich, interactive video from text prompts. With Amazon's backing, AWS becomes Odyssey's preferred cloud provider, signaling industry confidence in the startup's approach.

What to watch: Odyssey will optimize its models to run on AWS's Trainium chips, positioning itself as an alternative to Nvidia's AI chips. The funding also attracted notable angel investors including Jeff Dean, Elad Gil, Garry Tan, Guillermo Rauch, and Cruise founder Kyle Vogt, underlining the startup's credibility in autonomous-vehicle and AI circles.