Arcade Secures $12M to Teach AI Agents to Stop Being Jerks

In a groundbreaking move that has the tech world buzzing, Arcade, the startup that promises to make AI agents less insufferable, has just bagged a cool $12 million. The funding comes from Laude Ventures, the latest brainchild of Andy Konwinski, a name that might as well be synonymous with 'I co-founded something cool before breakfast'.

Arcade, led by the dynamic duo of Alex Salazar and Sam Partee, is on a mission to transform AI agents from the digital equivalent of a know-it-all teenager into something more akin to a helpful librarian. 'We're not just making AI smarter; we're making it nicer,' Salazar said, presumably while patting a robot on the head.

The investment frenzy doesn't stop at Arcade. Laude Ventures, Konwinski's new fund, has been cutting checks faster than a caffeinated barista on a Monday morning. With a track record that includes co-founding Databricks and Perplexity, Konwinski seems to have a Midas touch, turning everything he's involved with into tech gold. 'We're not just investing in companies; we're investing in the future of humanity's relationship with machines,' Konwinski might have said, if he wasn't too busy counting his money.

As for Arcade, the startup is tight-lipped about the specifics of how they plan to make AI agents less awful. However, rumors suggest that their approach includes a mix of machine learning, behavioral psychology, and an AI boot camp where robots learn the importance of empathy before they're allowed to interact with humans. 'It's like charm school, but for algorithms,' a source close to the company quipped.

With $12 million in the bank, Arcade is set to revolutionize the way we interact with AI. Whether they'll succeed in making AI agents less awful remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the tech world will be watching closely, popcorn in hand, ready for the next chapter in the saga of humans teaching machines how to behave.