Thinking Machines Lab: Former OpenAI CTO's startup reportedly valued at $10 billion
Key Points
- Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, has founded Thinking Machines Lab, a new AI startup that aims to make AI systems more understandable and accessible. About 30 leading researchers and engineers, many from OpenAI, have already joined the team.
- Prominent new hires include OpenAI co-founder John Schulman as Chief Scientist, former Head of Special Projects Jonathan Lachman, and former Vice President Barret Zoph as CTO. Experts from Google, Meta, Mistral, and Character AI are also on board.
- Thinking Machines Lab joins a growing list of AI startups founded by former OpenAI executives. One example is OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence (SSI), which is on the verge of a billion-dollar-plus funding round.
Update April 12, 2025:
According to a Business Insider report, Mira Murati's new AI startup Thinking Machines Lab is seeking a massive $2 billion seed funding round, which would value the company at a minimum of $10 billion. This represents double the previously reported valuation. The report doesn't specify what potential product might justify this valuation.
The startup has attracted dozens of prominent AI researchers, most recently adding Bob McGrew, OpenAI's former Chief Research Officer, and Alec Radford, a former OpenAI researcher behind many of the company's GPT advances. Both will serve as advisors to Murati's new team.
Original article from February 19, 2025:
Mira Murati, who previously served as OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer, has established a new AI company called Thinking Machines Lab. The startup aims to make artificial intelligence systems more transparent and accessible while bringing together some of the industry's top talent.
The company has already assembled an impressive team of around 30 leading researchers and engineers, with former OpenAI employees making up around two-thirds of the workforce, according to Reuters. Several high-profile additions have joined the leadership team, including OpenAI co-founder John Schulman as chief scientist, former head of special projects Jonathan Lachman, and former vice president Barret Zoph as CTO. The startup has also attracted experts from Google, Meta, Mistral and Character AI.
In a blog post, the company emphasized its belief in open collaboration and said it plans to publish technical blog posts, scientific papers, and code.
Ex-OpenAI executives increasingly launch their own AI ventures
Murati brings more than six years of experience from OpenAI, where she played a key role in developing ChatGPT. Prior to OpenAI, she worked at augmented reality startup Leap Motion and Tesla. The Financial Times reports that Thinking Machines Lab is currently in talks with venture capitalists.
Thinking Machines Lab is part of a growing trend of AI startups founded by former OpenAI executives. Bloomberg reports that Safe Superintelligence (SSI), an AI startup from OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, is close to closing a funding round of over $1 billion that would value the company at more than $30 billion.
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