Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab Closes $2B Seed at $10B Valuation

Mira Murati, the former CTO of OpenAI, has launched a new AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, which has raised an unprecedented $2 billion seed round, valuing the company at $10 billion just six months after its launch. The funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Sarah Guo's Conviction Partners, is one of the largest seed rounds in Silicon Valley's history, reflecting strong investor confidence in Murati's leadership and vision. Thinking Machines Lab remains secretive about its specific projects but aims to build AI systems that are more understandable, customizable, and capable, focusing on collaboration between humans and AI in science and engineering. Murati, who helped develop key OpenAI products like ChatGPT and DALL·E, left OpenAI in September 2024 following internal leadership concerns and briefly served as interim CEO during the 2023 upheaval. Several former OpenAI colleagues, including co-founder John Schulman, have joined her new venture, bolstering its reputation and appeal among investors. The startup's rapid capital raise underscores the intense competition and investor appetite in the AI sector to challenge established players like OpenAI, Anthropic, and major tech companies.