Startup Founded by Ex-Anthropic and Ex-METR Executives Raises $40M to Rein In AI Agents

A startup founded by a former early employee at Anthropic and a former chief operating officer at METR has raised $40 million in a Series A funding round aimed at addressing the risks posed by autonomous AI agents, according to a report from TechCrunch.

The company, called Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC), said it has developed an approach intended to control or "rein in" AI agents that behave in unintended or "rogue" ways, TechCrunch reported.

The funding round was led by Ribbit Capital, with additional participation from First Harmonic, according to the report.

TechCrunch's report did not disclose additional details about AIUC's specific technology, product offerings, or the company's valuation following the funding round.

METR, one of the organizations referenced in connection with AIUC's founders, is known for evaluating the capabilities and risks of frontier AI models. Anthropic is a major AI developer known for its Claude family of models.

The rise of AI agents — systems designed to autonomously carry out multi-step tasks with limited human oversight — has prompted growing interest from investors and researchers in tools that can monitor, constrain, or audit their behavior.