I have been keeping an eye on Thinking Machines Lab ever since we learned that Mira Murati, a former high-ranking executive at OpenAI, departed from the ChatGPT developer to launch her own AI project. I have been curious about what kind of AI product Murati and her expanding team of AI researchers would create.
Less than a year after Murati’s exit from OpenAI, we have news of a commercial AI product from Thinking Machines Lab, which emerged following a record-setting seed funding round. Reports indicated that Thinking Machines Lab was aiming for $2 billion in funding at a valuation of $10 billion. Murati’s startup exceeded that expectation, securing over $2 billion in seed funding at a valuation of $12 billion.
It’s not surprising that Murati had to make a public statement concerning the company’s commercial plans. Thinking Machines Lab must have some exciting AI innovations if it managed to persuade investors to invest such a large sum. On the other hand, AI remains the hottest trend right now. Investors are eager to finance the right project, and Thinking Machines Lab may be just that.
While we lack specific details about the upcoming Thinking Machines Lab product(s), Murati confirmed that the company will unveil its first product in the coming months, which will feature an open-source aspect:
“We’re creating multimodal AI that engages with how you intuitively interact with the world – via conversation, sight, and the complex ways we collaborate. We’re thrilled that in the upcoming months we’ll be able to present our first product, which will include a notable open-source element and be beneficial for researchers and startups that are developing customized models. Soon, we’ll also disseminate our leading science to assist the research community in gaining a better grasp of frontier AI systems.”
This announcement is certainly thrilling for any AI aficionado. It will also be intriguing to see if Thinking Machines Lab can outpace OpenAI by launching an open-source AI model sooner. For context, OpenAI has had to delay its open version of ChatGPT twice already, with a release now anticipated this summer.
Murati, who served as OpenAI’s CTO before leaving the organization in September (and held the role of interim CEO during Sam Altman’s removal in the fall of 2023), shared the above news in a post on X that also confirmed the substantial funding round. Murati mentioned that Thinking Machines Lab raised $2 billion, “led by a16z [Andreessen Horowitz] with contributions from NVIDIA, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, Jane Street, and others who align with our mission.”
The announcement further highlights that Thinking Machines Lab is still on the lookout for “extraordinary talent.” Murati isn’t the only former OpenAI researcher at Thinking Machines Lab. Approximately two-thirds of the initial 30 hires at Thinking Machines Lab are former OpenAI employees.
