The trick: Self-Marked
The company that grades AI for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and xAI just raised $40M at a $400M valuation.
It disclosed a customer relationship with the labs it evaluates.
Vals AI raised $40M led by a16z at a $400M valuation on the pitch that it is the independent evaluator of AI. Its benchmarks appear in model cards from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and xAI.
Before you read on. Your call?
TRUE, BUT
Grader on payroll
Artificial Lawyer reported Vals AI disclosed a customer relationship with one or more of the participants it evaluates. The benchmarks that appear in model cards are produced by a company billing the labs whose products carry those scores.
The twist
independence is the product. The customers are the subjects. The conflict is structural, not hidden. Vals disclosed it. But disclosure does not eliminate the conflict; it just puts it on the record.
There’s more to this story.
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The trick has a name
We call it Self-Marked: graded by the party that benefits from the grade. You'll see it again. Learn to spot it →
Receipts
- Supports vals.ai:
We started Vals AI to solve this problem as the independent evaluator of artificial intelligence.
- Refutes artificiallawyer.com:
customer relationship with one or more of the participants
- Supports cryptobriefing.com:
$40 million in a Series A
- Context kucoin.com:
Vals AI Finance Agent v2 Reveals GPT-5.5 Hits Just 52% Accuracy
Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.