Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab Raises $2B in Seed Round, Valued at $12B
Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, has secured $2 billion in its seed round, bringing its valuation to $12 billion. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional support from Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, and Jane Street.
Significant Seed Round and Surge in Valuation
Earlier reports had indicated that the funding round would close at a $10 billion valuation, but the final figure has risen to $12 billion. This marks one of the largest seed rounds in Silicon Valley, signaling strong investor interest in emerging AI labs. Despite being under a year old, Thinking Machines Lab has already gained substantial backing.
Teasing the First Product
Murati revealed plans for the startup’s first product, which will include a major open-source offering. The product, aimed at researchers and startups focused on custom AI models, is expected to launch in the coming months.
- AI Research: Murati also hinted that the startup will share its groundbreaking research to help the broader AI community. It’s unclear whether the company will release an open AI model to compete with models like ChatGPT, with a spokesperson refusing to comment further.
Building the Team
Since launching, Thinking Machines Lab has attracted key talent from OpenAI, including John Schulman, Barret Zoph, and Luke Metz. The company is actively hiring individuals with experience in creating successful AI-driven products from the ground up.
- Acquisition Talks: Meta reportedly discussed acquiring Thinking Machines Lab, aiming to enhance its superintelligence efforts, but those talks did not result in an acquisition.
Competing with Established AI Leaders
With its substantial funding, Thinking Machines Lab is positioning itself as a challenger to dominant AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. The startup has also struck a deal with Google Cloud to support its AI model development.
