May Habib

How This Language Expert Launched a Generative AI Platform That’s Giving OpenAI a Run for Its Money

May Habib likes languages. She graduated from Harvard with degrees in Economics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She co-founded Qordoba, an AI-powered platform that helped companies write with the same style, terminology, and brand voice across their organizations. And then she used that knowledge to launch Writer, a full-stack generative AI platform for businesses. It’s safe to say it’s going well: Writer raised $100 million in Series B funding in 2023, bringing its total amount raised to $126 million and its valuation to more than $500 million. It was an impressive haul for two big reasons: VC funds have been tight for the past couple of years, and Writer has plenty of competition from a long list of companies now offering full-stack generative AI platforms for businesses. In a crowded field, Writer stands out for several reasons: It has trained its models on material that isn’t copyrighted, offers transparency by allowing customers to inspect the models’ code, and is never trained on customer data. These capabilities have earned the company a long list of clients, including L’Oréal, Uber, Spotify, and Accenture, and have netted Habib a well-earned spot among the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders Class of 2024, a prestigious group recognized for global impact in their respective fields.

By Audrey Goodson Kingo