Reflection seeks $2.5B raise at $25B valuation as Nvidia-backed open-source AI startup targets sovereign AI

Reflection, a startup founded in 2024 by former Google DeepMind researcher Misha Laskin and backed by Nvidia with roughly $800M in a previous round, is in talks to raise $2.5B at a $25B pre-money valuation, with JPMorgan Chase in discussions to participate through its Security and Resiliency Initiative, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is central to Nvidia's push to build an open-source AI ecosystem that runs on its chips and counters Chinese open-source models, with investors describing Reflection as the “DeepSeek of the West,” and has already committed several billion dollars to build Korean-language models in a deal with South Korean conglomerate Shinsegae Group. Reflection is also part of Nvidia's newly formed Nemotron Coalition of open-model startups alongside Cursor and Thinking Machines Lab, with the broader goal of becoming the default open model powering sovereign AI infrastructure across U.S.-allied nations.