Following a report last week indicating that Apple was in internal discussions regarding a possible acquisition of Perplexity, Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter disclosed that Apple also considered a potential agreement with another significant player in the AI domain: Mira Murati. Here’s what transpired.
Murati, who gained prominence as OpenAI’s former Chief Technology Officer, exited the company last year amid boardroom turmoil that momentarily resulted in CEO Sam Altman’s removal. In fact, as highlighted in the book “The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future,” Murati and OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever were pivotal figures behind the scenes during the surreal boardroom coup that briefly ousted Altman. Murati even took on the role of OpenAI’s interim CEO for a brief period before, in an ironic twist, threatening to resign unless Altman was reinstated. By that time, it was evident that the coup had failed, and Murati, like others involved, reversed course to preserve both the company and their own positions.
Less than a year later, Murati departed OpenAI and established a new AI startup named Thinking Machines Lab (by then, Ilya Sutskever had also left to create his own company, Safe SuperIntelligence). Now, according to Gurman, it seems Apple met with her earlier this year to explore a potential acquisition.
### What is Thinking Machines Lab?
Murati’s company epitomizes the current AI ecosystem: While it lacks a product at this moment, it has just completed the largest seed funding round ever for any startup, raising $2 billion led by Andreessen Horowitz. This placed the company’s valuation at an impressive US$10 billion.
So far, the publicly disclosed purpose of Thinking Machines Lab is to create “a future where everyone has access to the knowledge and tools to make AI work for their unique needs and goals.” Here’s a quote from their launch manifesto, which you can read in full on their website:
> “The scientific community’s understanding of frontier AI systems lags behind rapidly advancing capabilities. Knowledge of how these systems are trained is concentrated within the top research labs, limiting both the public discourse on AI and people’s abilities to use AI effectively. And, despite their potential, these systems remain difficult for people to customize to their specific needs and values. To bridge the gaps, we’re building Thinking Machines Lab to make AI systems more widely understood, customizable and generally capable.”
Regarding Apple’s interest in the company, in contrast to the ongoing internal assessments concerning Perplexity, discussions with Murati reportedly “never progressed.” Here’s Gurman:
> “Separately, Apple met earlier this year with Mira Murati — the former chief technology officer of OpenAI — to discuss a potential deal for her new AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab. The talks never progressed to an advanced stage.”
### 9to5Mac’s Take
That being said, I’d be surprised if Apple isn’t engaging with every other promising AI startup available, equally brimming with skilled engineers, including Ilya Sutskever’s Safe SuperIntelligence, or the French startup Mistral.
To be completely candid, Perplexity appears to be the least compatible culturally among the contenders, having faced its share of drama and controversy regarding data collection. Although the company seems to be performing better now and offers an intriguing product, it is also still embroiled in more legal issues than Apple would likely want to inherit if it were to invest.
