SurgeAI’s CEO is All In on Human Data

Surge AI has become one of the most significant yet understated players in the AI infrastructure space. Founded in 2020 by former Google and Twitter engineer Edwin Chen, the company surpassed $1 billion in revenue last year by providing high-quality, human-labeled data to leading AI developers, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. While competitors have often grown through aggressive fundraising, Surge remained bootstrapped for five years. Chen explained this decision on a recent appearance on the No Priors podcast: “Raising immediately always felt silly to me,” he said. “If you didn’t know how Silicon Valley worked, why would you do that?” Surge is now preparing for its first external capital raise, reportedly up to $1 billion at a valuation north of $15 billion, signa