Sakana AI
Japanese frontier AI R&D lab selling LLM orchestration and Japanese-language models to finance and defense clients
About Sakana AI
Sakana AI K.K. is a Tokyo-based frontier AI R&D company founded in 2023 by David Ha, Ren Ito and Llion Jones. Its products include Sakana Fugu, a model that orchestrates multiple LLMs; Sakana Namazu, an LLM for Japanese; Sakana Marlin, an autonomous research agent for strategy reports; and Sakana Translate for Japanese, English and Chinese.
Customers named on the website include large Japanese financial groups (MUFG Bank, SMBC Group, Daiwa Securities Group) and defense and public-sector bodies (the Ministry of Defense, ATLA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications). The company states that its current business model centers on delivering AI products to large Japanese companies and defense-sector customers, with projects run by its Applied Team.
The company is headquartered at Azabudai Hills in Tokyo and reports about 150 employees. It lists a Series B round completed in January 2026, with Japanese and overseas investors including ITOCHU, KDDI, NEC, Google and NVIDIA. Open roles span GTM, Research, Product, Corporate and the Applied Team, mostly in Tokyo on a hybrid basis.
Product: Sakana Fugu (LLM orchestration), Sakana Namazu (Japanese LLM), Sakana Marlin (strategy research agent), Sakana Translate, Sakana Chat.
Jobs at Sakana AI
Leadership
- Ren Ito · Co-Founder & ChairmanSource: company website
- David Ha · Co-Founder & CEOSource: company website
- Ai Fujiki · Chief Financial OfficerSource: company website
- Llion Jones · Co-Founder & CTOSource: company website
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Website technologies
Tools and platforms detected on this company’s website, grouped by purpose. Dates record when Evolc observed them.
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- Google Analytics 4High confidence
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- FastlyHigh confidence
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- GitHub PagesHigh confidence
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Recruiting
- WorkableMedium confidence
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- Page markupsoftware structure signature
Website detection does not establish a paid subscription or company-wide use. Tools loaded after consent or sign-in may be missed. “No longer observed” does not prove the company stopped using a tool.