内容来源：https://aibusiness.com/generative-ai/startup-banks-50-million-develop-sovereign-ai-infrastructure

内容总结：

伦敦初创公司Valarian获5000万美元融资，助力各国打造“主权AI”基础设施

在全球“主权人工智能”浪潮兴起的背景下，一家名为Valarian的伦敦初创公司近日完成5000万美元的A轮融资，旨在为美国以外的国家和企业提供独立可控的AI基础设施。该公司通过开发位于政府及组织AI系统底层的软件层，实现对AI部署方式、使用时机及访问权限的自主掌控，试图在关乎国家安全的AI关键领域占据一席之地。

本轮融资由美国风投巨头New Enterprise Associates领投，Lightbank、XTX Ventures等机构及硅谷知名投资人跟投。至此，Valarian累计融资达7000万美元。

Valarian的核心技术是在基础设施层面提供“工作负载级治理”，这意味着即便政府和企业在AWS、微软等美国云服务商上部署主权AI，实际控制权仍由Valarian的软件掌握，可决定组织数据如何使用、由谁使用。该公司指出，这一机制能有效防止敏感数据落入不当之手，例如避免美国云供应商被迫向美国政府移交数据的情况。

Valarian首席执行官马克斯·布坎表示：“西方机构的智能层正在悄然整合，一份份合同、一个个部门地将控制权交予其无法掌控的系统。”

据悉，新资金将重点用于两大领域：一是需要运营管控的企业AI应用，二是承担关键任务的国防项目。面对欧盟2025年高达3920亿欧元的防务支出，市场前景广阔。此外，Valarian已获得英国政府支持。英国人工智能与在线安全部长卡尼什卡·纳拉扬强调：“为了按照我们的价值观塑造自身命运，必须建设英国的主权AI能力，而Valarian这样的先锋企业正在为此提供解决方案。”

中文翻译：

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主权AI已在全球蓬勃发展，但其基础设施通常由美国科技巨头建造。

总部位于伦敦的Valarian在A轮融资中筹集了5000万美元，旨在为美国以外的国家和企业提供主权AI基础设施。

Valarian开发了一个软件层，运行于政府及组织所使用的AI系统之下，能够控制AI的部署方式、使用时间以及访问权限。通过这一技术，Valarian力求成为该领域的参与者，而这一领域最终可能对各国国家安全至关重要。

此轮融资由美国风险投资巨头New Enterprise Associates领投，其他投资者包括Lightbank、XTX Ventures、Litquidity Ventures和Sequel，以及硅谷知名投资人Gokul Rajaram和Nikesh Arora。Valarian的累计融资额现已达到7000万美元。

Valarian在一份新闻稿中表示，该公司“在关键应用、AI系统及操作负载运行的环境中提供工作负载级别的治理”。

根据Valarian的说法，这意味着政府或企业可以继续部署，例如由AWS或微软等超大规模云服务商为主权AI提供的美国云基础设施，但实际上，控制权掌握在Valarian的软件手中，由它来决定组织数据的使用方式及使用对象。

Valarian表示，通过在基础设施层面实施这种治理，可以防止敏感数据落入不当之手——例如，若美国云提供商被迫将数据交给美国政府，这种措施便能避免此类情况发生。

“西方机构的智能层正在悄然汇聚：一份合同接一份合同、一个部门接一个部门地，融入那些机构自身无法控制的系统之中。”Valarian首席执行官兼联合创始人Max Buchan在一份声明中表示。

Valarian表示，将利用这笔新资金加速在两个关键但截然不同的领域的部署——企业领域和国防领域。企业领域侧重于使用AI且需要操作控制的组织和部门；国防领域则聚焦于运行关键任务负载的国家和国防项目。

这一市场潜力巨大，欧盟2025年的国防支出为3920亿欧元（约合4493亿美元）。

Valarian还得到了英国政府的支持。

“为了按照我们的价值观塑造自身命运，打造英国的主权AI能力势在必行。”英国AI与网络安全事务大臣Kanishka Narayan在一份声明中表示，“像Valarian这样的英国先锋企业深知我们面临的挑战，并正在构建能帮助我们建设一个更安全、更强大英国的解决方案。”

英文来源：

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Sovereign AI has been flourishing around the world, but usually with infrastructure built by U.S. tech giants.
London-based Valarian raised $50 million in a Series A funding round as part of its drive to deliver sovereign AI infrastructure to nations and enterprises outside the U.S.
By developing a software layer that sits beneath the AI systems used by governments and organizations, enabling control over how the AI is deployed, when it is used, and who can access it, Valarian is seeking to become a player in an area that could ultimately be key to countries’ national security.
The round was led by U.S. venture capital giant New Enterprise Associates with other participants including Lightbank, XTX Ventures, Litquidity Ventures and Sequel, plus high-profile Silicon Valley investors Gokul Rajaram and Nikesh Arora. Valerian’s total funding now stands at $70 million.
Valarian “provides workload-level governance across the environments where critical applications, AI systems and operational workloads run,” Valarian said in a release.
In essence, that means governments or enterprises can continue to deploy, for example, U.S. cloud infrastructure for sovereign AI provided by hyperscalers such as AWS or Microsoft, but it is actually Valarian’s software that is in control, determining how the organization’s data is being used and by whom, according to Valarian.
By implementing this governance at the infrastructure level, Valarian said it can prevent a scenario in which sensitive data could fall into the wrong hands -- such as if U.S. cloud providers were forced to hand it over to the American government, for example.
“The intelligence layer of Western institutions is consolidating: quietly, contract by contract, department by department, into systems those institutions do not control,” Valarian CEO and co-founder Max Buchan said in a statement.
Valarian said it will use the new funding to accelerate deployment in two key, but distinct, areas -- enterprise and defense. Enterprise focuses on organizations and departments using AI that require operational control; defense centers on states and defense programs running mission-critical workloads.
The market is potentially big, with the EU spending 392 billion euros, or about $449.3 billion, on defense in 2025.
Valarian also has the backing of the U.K. government.
“To shape our own destiny, in accordance with our values, it is imperative that we build Britain’s sovereign AI capabilities,” Kanishka Narayan, Minister for AI and Online Safety, said in a statement. “Pioneering British firms like Valarian understand the challenge that’s in front of us and are building the solutions that will help us deliver a safer and stronger Britain.”