Inception Labs
Builds diffusion-based large language models, the Mercury family, sold by API and priced per token for coding, agents, customer support and voice.
StageUndisclosed
Founded—
HeadquartersRedwood City, USA
Redwood City, USAStatusPrivate
Product
Selected offerings — the AI products recorded here, not the vendor's full catalogue.
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Family of diffusion large language models (Mercury 2.5, Mercury Voice, Mercury Router) served by an OpenAI-compatible API at over 1,000 tokens per second, priced per million tokens, for coding, agents, support and voice.
Similar products 39
No sourced competitor yet: no filing, vendor document or measured-market report read so far names a rival for this company, so none is asserted. The companies below are the closest by what their products do.
LC
LG CorpPublicMercury and K-EXAONE 2.0 both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareD
DeepSeekLate-stageMercury and DeepSeek API Platform both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareTA
TypeSafe AIEarly-stageMercury and Jev both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSA
Sakana AILate-stageMercury and Sakana Namazu both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareU
UpstageLate-stageMercury and Solar LLMs both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareLA
Liquid AIUndisclosedMercury and Liquid Console both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareR
ReflectionLate-stageMercury and Reflection API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareMA
Mistral AILate-stageMercury and Mistral Studio both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareMA
Moonshot AILate-stageMercury and Kimi Open Platform both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompare01
01.AIUndisclosedMercury and Yi both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareZ
Z.ai (Zhipu AI)PublicMercury and Z.ai Model API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareAA
Aleph AlphaLate-stageMercury and Pharia-1-LLM both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareD
DecartLate-stageMercury and Cogito both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareX
xAIAcquiredMercury and xAI API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded; xAI is acquired, with no independent scale.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareB
BaichuanLate-stageMercury and Baichuan Open Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareAL
AI21 LabsLate-stageMercury and AI21 Studio both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareA
Alphabet (Google)PublicMercury and Gemini API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareA
AnthropicLate-stageMercury and Claude API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareO
OpenAILate-stageMercury and OpenAI API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareBF
Black Forest LabsLate-stageMercury and FLUX API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.Shared product typeCompareS
StepFunLate-stageMercury and StepFun Open Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareT
TencentPublicMercury and TokenHub both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareS
SenseTimePublicMercury and SenseNova both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSA
Stability AILate-stageMercury and Stability AI Platform API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.Shared product typeCompareMP
Meta PlatformsPublicMercury and Meta Model API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareK
KuaishouPublicMercury and Kling AI Developer API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareH
HumainUndisclosedMercury and HUMAIN IQ both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships API service, agent platform and 3 more rather than the same layer.2 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareC
CohereLate-stageMercury and Cohere Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareM
MiniMaxPublicMercury and MiniMax Open Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareA
AlibabaPublicMercury and Alibaba Cloud Model Studio both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareP
PerplexityLate-stageMercury and Decisions API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSA
Sarvam AILate-stageMercury and Sarvam AI Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareEA
Eden AIEarly-stageMercury and Eden AI both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships API service rather than the same layer.1 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareB
BaiduPublicMercury and Baidu Qianfan both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareO
OpenRouterLate-stageMercury and OpenRouter both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareNR
Nous ResearchEarly-stageMercury and Nous Portal both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships AI agent, API service and 2 more rather than the same layer.2 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareIA
Inworld AIUndisclosedMercury and Inworld Inference both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareR
RequestyEarly-stageMercury and Requesty AI Gateway both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships API service rather than the same layer.1 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareI
Inception42UndisclosedMercury and Jais both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompare
LG CorpPublicMercury and K-EXAONE 2.0 both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareDDeepSeekLate-stageMercury and DeepSeek API Platform both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareTATypeSafe AIEarly-stageMercury and Jev both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSASakana AILate-stageMercury and Sakana Namazu both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareUUpstageLate-stageMercury and Solar LLMs both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareLALiquid AIUndisclosedMercury and Liquid Console both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareRReflectionLate-stageMercury and Reflection API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareMAMistral AILate-stageMercury and Mistral Studio both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareMAMoonshot AILate-stageMercury and Kimi Open Platform both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompare0101.AIUndisclosedMercury and Yi both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareZZ.ai (Zhipu AI)PublicMercury and Z.ai Model API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareAAAleph AlphaLate-stageMercury and Pharia-1-LLM both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareDDecartLate-stageMercury and Cogito both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareXxAIAcquiredMercury and xAI API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded; xAI is acquired, with no independent scale.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareBBaichuanLate-stageMercury and Baichuan Open Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareALAI21 LabsLate-stageMercury and AI21 Studio both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareAAlphabet (Google)PublicMercury and Gemini API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareAAnthropicLate-stageMercury and Claude API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareOOpenAILate-stageMercury and OpenAI API both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareBFBlack Forest LabsLate-stageMercury and FLUX API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.Shared product typeCompareSStepFunLate-stageMercury and StepFun Open Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareTTencentPublicMercury and TokenHub both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSSenseTimePublicMercury and SenseNova both list code generation; both also serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSAStability AILate-stageMercury and Stability AI Platform API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.Shared product typeCompareMPMeta PlatformsPublicMercury and Meta Model API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareKKuaishouPublicMercury and Kling AI Developer API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareHHumainUndisclosedMercury and HUMAIN IQ both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships API service, agent platform and 3 more rather than the same layer.2 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareCCohereLate-stageMercury and Cohere Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareMMiniMaxPublicMercury and MiniMax Open Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareAAlibabaPublicMercury and Alibaba Cloud Model Studio both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeComparePPerplexityLate-stageMercury and Decisions API both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.1 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareSASarvam AILate-stageMercury and Sarvam AI Platform both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareEAEden AIEarly-stageMercury and Eden AI both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships API service rather than the same layer.1 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareBBaiduPublicMercury and Baidu Qianfan both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.3 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareOOpenRouterLate-stageMercury and OpenRouter both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; Inception Labs's scale not recorded.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareNRNous ResearchEarly-stageMercury and Nous Portal both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships AI agent, API service and 2 more rather than the same layer.2 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareIAInworld AIUndisclosedMercury and Inworld Inference both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareRRequestyEarly-stageMercury and Requesty AI Gateway both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either; ships API service rather than the same layer.1 of 3 capabilitiesDifferent layerCompareIInception42UndisclosedMercury and Jais both serve buyers who need to build on a hosted model API; scale not recorded for either.2 of 3 capabilitiesShared product typeCompareClosest alternatives are pairs a vendor page itself compares. Similar products are matched from what each product does; nothing in that group is asserted as a rivalry.
Sources
- Total funding
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Company blog repost titled "Inception raises $50 million to build diffusion models for code and text"; one round, no cumulative total stated, so none is recorded.
- Valuation
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No valuation stated.
- Founded
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The About page names no founding year; it says the founders pioneered diffusion and flash-attention research.
- Public listing
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Company disclosure · 11 Oct 2026
Private company: Inception AI, Inc., venture-funded; no listing.
- Description
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Company disclosure · 11 Oct 2026
Models page: "Inception's diffusion LLMs (dLLMs) deliver frontier LLM quality at 5x greater speed"; Mercury 2.5, Mercury Voice and Mercury Router.
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