STOCKHOLM, June 4 (Reuters) - Cisco ( CSCO ) on Tuesday

launched a $1 billion fund to invest in artificial intelligence

startups, joining a list of big technology companies rushing to

take stakes in small AI firms.

The company, through its investment arm, is investing in

Cohere, Mistral AI and Scale AI, among others, and has already

committed nearly $200 million of the fund, it said.

AI data startup Scale AI is valued at nearly $14 billion,

while so-called foundation model developers Cohere and Mistral

are both reportedly in talks with investors to raise funds at a

valuation of $5 billion each.

Foundation AI models are built using huge volumes of data

and can be applied across a wide range of use cases.

After Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI started the AI frenzy in 2022

with the launch of ChatGPT, several tech companies such as Meta

and Amazon ( AMZN ) have also invested in various AI

startups.

Cisco ( CSCO ) has made over 20 AI-focused acquisitions and

investments in the last several years, furthering generative AI

and machine learning and integration of AI across its portfolio,

the company said in a statement.