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Applied AI·September 19, 2026·1 min read

Vals, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, is looking to become the gold standard for AI benchmarking

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A neutral, third-party benchmark layer backed by a16z is a bid to become the arbiter of which models are ‘good enough’ for specific use cases. If Vals gains traction, model choice and procurement may start to flow through its scorecards—operators should expect more pressure to justify deviations from whatever becomes the de facto benchmark suite.