Sentient, an open-source AI development platform, has raised $85 million in a seed funding round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures. The funds will be used to hire engineers and develop Sentient’s open AI platform. The startup aims to enable AI developers to monetize their open-source models and data. Key figures behind Sentient include Sandeep Nailwal, Pramod Viswanath, and Himanshu Tyagi. Sentient plans to address the incentive issues in open-source AI with its blockchain protocol, which will also be part of its upcoming testnet launch in 2024.