AI Valuation: Mercor aims for $20 billion, pure madness?

Mercor is a startup focused on "feeding" artificial intelligence models. It provides specialized, high-quality data, which is crucial for making them smarter and more accurate. Without good "food," even the most promising model remains a bit dull.

Think of a child learning. If you only give them Pokémon cards, they won't become a nuclear engineer. Mercor does the same for AI, providing rich and relevant information. Bloomberg reported on July 9, 2026, that Mercor is discussing a $20 billion valuation.

This absurd figure comes from discussions about new funding. The market has gone wild for anything related to artificial intelligence, and those providing the "building blocks" are seen as kings. It's a gold rush, but for data.

Big tech companies, the ones developing the most complex AI models, have an insatiable hunger for quality data. They are willing to pay insane amounts for an edge. Mercor fits right in, promising to make AI smarter with its "super-data." Is the market just afraid of missing out?