Mira Murati's Thinking Machine Labs Seeks $1B Funding at $9B Valuation

Mira Murati's $9B AI lab could change the AI forever

Mira Murati's new startup, Thinking Machine Labs, is reportedly aiming to raise a $1 billion funding round at a valuation of approximately $9 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Business Insider. The funding round is currently underway, and details could evolve. A $9 billion valuation is unusually high for a startup that has been in operation for less than a year; however, investor interest in AI startups, particularly those founded by former OpenAI employees, has surged. Murati previously served as CTO at OpenAI for six and a half years, contributing to the development of ChatGPT and various AI research initiatives. Following the abrupt dismissal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November 2023, Murati was briefly appointed as interim CEO before Altman returned to the role and Murati resumed her position as CTO. The speculation regarding Murati's next steps post-OpenAI culminated in the emergence of Thinking Machine Labs from stealth last week. In a recent blog post, Murati outlined the mission of her startup as focusing on enhancing accessibility in artificial intelligence. She stated, "To bridge the gaps, we're building Thinking Machines Lab to make AI systems more widely understood, customizable and generally capable." As we covered last month, Murati has attracted a team of engineers and AI researchers from notable tech companies including OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic. Key hires include John Schulman, who co-led the ChatGPT project; Jonathan Lachman, the former head of special projects at OpenAI; Barret Zoph, a co-creator of ChatGPT; and Alexander Kirillov, who collaborated closely with Murati on ChatGPT's voice mode. Murati is one of several former OpenAI executives launching their own ventures. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's cofounder and chief scientist, left the company in May 2024 to establish Safe Superintelligence Inc., which raised $1 billion shortly thereafter. The Amodei brothers, Dario and Daniela, also transitioned from OpenAI to found Anthropic in 2021, which has subsequently secured substantial funding, including $8 billion from Amazon. Murati employed Jonathan Lachman as part of her initiative to build a strong team in her new AI lab, which is still unnamed and lacks a defined product direction at this stage. Approximately 10 researchers and engineers from other AI companies, such as Character AI and Google DeepMind, have joined her startup. Murati's exit from OpenAI was closely tied to a tumultuous period for the organization, particularly following the sacking of Sam Altman. During the leadership crisis, which nearly resulted in mass resignations, Altman referred to Murati's promotion as interim CEO as "the low point." Following her departure from OpenAI in September 2023, Murati expressed gratitude towards Altman in her farewell letter, emphasizing her desire to create space for her own exploration. Approximately one month after leaving OpenAI, Murati sought to raise over $100 million to finance her new undertaking, although this amount was not finalized. Other significant departures from OpenAI during this time included Barret Zoph and Bob McGrew, who served as the chief research officer.

Former OpenAI CTO Murati's New AI Startup Reportedly Closing In On $9B Valuation

Thinking Machines Lab, a new startup by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, aims to raise $1 billion at a $9 billion valuation, Business Insider reported. If the deal closes, the company would be just the latest AI startup with ties to OpenAI to land a big investment. It would also be part of a growing trend of early-stage startups being minted as unicorns. The round is not yet finalized and the details could change, Business Insider reported. It did not provide any information on potential investors in the company, which just emerged from stealth this month. Murati left OpenAI in September after more than six years at the startup, including a brief stint as its interim CEO. She has recruited some 20 former OpenAI researchers to Thinking Machines, Reuters reported earlier this month. Other employees previously spent time at rivals Meta and Mistral AI. It's not clear if the company has previously raised funding. On its website, Thinking Machines says it is open source and aims to create "more flexible, adaptable, and personalized AI systems." "We see enormous potential for AI to help in every field of work," the company said. "While current systems excel at programming and mathematics, we're building AI that can adapt to the full spectrum of human expertise and enable a broader spectrum of applications." Thinking Machines' raise would mark the latest large funding deal for an AI startup by a founder with OpenAI ties. Anthropic, a Google-backed OpenAI rival also founded by some former OpenAI employees, is reportedly closing in on a fresh $3.5 billion funding round that would value it at $61.5 billion. Just last month, it was reported that the startup raised a fresh $1 billion from previous investor Google. It has raised $14.7 billion to date, per Crunchbase. Elon Musk's generative AI startup xAI is in talks to raise another $10 billion at a $75 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. The company most recently raised $6 billion in November. Musk was an OpenAI founder who left the company early on after a still-ongoing and bitter feud and legal battle with CEO Sam Altman. The startup has now raised $12.4 billion in known funding, per Crunchbase. If Thinking Machines Lab successfully closes the funding, it would also join a growing trend of early-stage startups (seed, Series A or Series B) achieving unicorn valuations, often within mere months of their founding. AI startups have been particularly prominent in the trend of early-stage unicorns.