LMArena, a crowdsourced AI comparison platform, secured $150 million in a Series A round, valuing the company at $1.7 billion. Backed by Felicis, UC Investments and leading venture firms, the funding will expand its commercial AI Evaluation service, which provides enterprises with real‑world, human‑anchored model rankings. By letting users compare anonymized responses and vote for the better answer, LMArena offers a dynamic alternative to static benchmarks. The approach has attracted both praise for delivering trust signals and criticism over potential bias and manipulation, highlighting the growing demand for richer AI assessment tools as models proliferate. Read more →