Chris Manning Joins AIX Ventures as General Partner to Champion Deep AI Innovation

AIX Ventures today announced that Christopher Manning, the renowned Stanford AI Lab Director and world’s most cited NLP researcher, has joined the firm as a General Partner. Since the firm’s 2021 founding, Manning has served as an Investing Partner while also leading various research groups at Stanford University. Manning is on a leave of absence from Stanford and will focus on backing deep AI companies that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with machine learning and natural language processing.

Christopher Manning is the most‑cited researcher in natural language processing globally, whose work has shaped modern NLP through foundational advances like GloVe, attention mechanisms, and CoreNLP/Stanza. He has spent more than 25 years at Stanford University where he founded the Stanford NLP Group, led the Stanford AI Lab (SAIL) and co-founded Stanford’s Institute for Human‑Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), guiding research, policy, and interdisciplinary work. This year, he was elected both to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the National Academy of Engineering, prestigious honors that recognize his deep impact on engineering and AI.

“We’re entering a new era where deep AI systems will fundamentally reshape how we interact with technology and knowledge,” said Chris Manning. “Joining AIX Ventures as a General Partner allows me to support the next generation of founders building the tools and infrastructure that will define that future.”

As General Partner, Manning will help source, diligence, invest in, and advise companies with massive potential in NLP, reasoning, and other AI frontiers. He joins AIX Venture’s HQ investors Shaun Johnson, Krish Ramadurai, and Jason McBride, with Richard Socher and Anthony Goldbloom remaining as Investment Partners. Manning’s investments to date at AIX Ventures include Wispr, Workera, and Workhelix. Chris also works with AIX Ventures’ portfolio company Perplexity.

“Chris has been one of the most influential minds in AI over the past two decades,” said Shaun Johnson, Co-Founder and General Partner at AIX Ventures. “His ability to spot foundational shifts early and guide them with both technical depth and practical insight makes him an incredible partner for the kinds of ambitious founders we back.”

“I’ve seen firsthand how Chris has shaped the entire field thinking about NLP and intelligence,” said Richard Socher, Co-Founder and Managing Director at AIX Ventures. “Having him as a GP at AIX Ventures brings unmatched research depth to our team and gives founders direct access to one of the pioneers behind modern NLP.”

Learn more at: https://www.aixventures.com/

About AIX Ventures

AIX Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments in artificial intelligence startups. Founded by leading AI practitioners, including Richard Socher, Anthony Goldbloom, Christopher Manning, and Shaun Johnson, the firm combines deep technical expertise with investment acumen to support transformative AI technologies. AIX Ventures focuses on consumer, developer tools & data, healthcare/life sciences, manufacturing, and SaaS, providing funding and strategic guidance to companies where AI is a core component of their products. The fund has established a portfolio that includes notable companies like Hugging Face, You.com, Weights & Biases, and Perplexity. Learn more at https://www.aixventures.com.

Contact Information

Riley Munks

PR Advisor

AIX Ventures

riley@aixventures.com