Global Illumination
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Global Illumination was a New York-based digital product company founded in 2021 that used artificial intelligence to build creative tools, infrastructure and digital experiences. Its most recent project was Biomes, an open-source sandbox massively multiplayer online game similar to Minecraft. The team was drawn from early product builders at Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google, Pixar and Riot Games. The company raised $14 million in venture funding from investors including Paradigm, Benchmark and Slow Ventures.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
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03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Global Illumination was founded in New York in 2021 as a digital product company using AI to build creative tools and digital experiences.
- Acquired by OpenAI
On August 16, 2023 OpenAI announced the acquisition of Global Illumination, its first public acquisition; the price was undisclosed and the team joined OpenAI to work on core products including ChatGPT.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
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Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
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