Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati raises $2B for new AI startup Thinking Machines at $12B valuation

It hasn’t even been six months since Mira Murati left OpenAI. Now, she’s back in the spotlight with a jaw-dropping $2 billion raise for her new AI startup, Thinking Machines.

The funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz, values the company at a staggering $12 billion—even before it’s released a single product. The news lands just a month after Thinking Machines came out of stealth, making the $2 billion raise all the more remarkable.

Thinking Machines, founded in February, doesn’t have revenue yet. It doesn’t even have a product on the market. What it does have is a powerhouse founder and a growing team of top-tier AI talent. Nearly two-thirds of the founding team came from OpenAI, and that alone seems to have been enough to attract some of the biggest names in tech and finance. The round drew participation from Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, and Jane Street.

Investor interest in the company has been strong from the start. Back in April, Reuters reported that a16z was in talks to lead an unusually large early-stage round. That prediction came true, only bigger than most expected. In a post on X, Murati wrote:

“We’re excited that in the next couple months we’ll be able to share our first product, which will include a significant open source component and be useful for researchers and startups developing custom models. Soon, we’ll also share our best science to help the research community better understand frontier AI systems.”

That product is still under wraps, but the pitch is clear. Thinking Machines wants to build AI systems that are safer, more reliable, and usable across a wider range of applications than what’s currently available. With names like Murati, Amodei, and Sutskever all launching new ventures, a new generation of AI companies is taking shape, many of them led by OpenAI alumni.

Anthropic, founded by Dario Amodei, and Safe Superintelligence, launched by Ilya Sutskever, are both backed by billions. Now Murati’s Thinking Machines joins that list, riding the wave of enthusiasm pouring into AI as the sector continues to dominate venture deal flow.

According to PitchBook, AI accounted for more than 64% of total deal value in the U.S. during the first half of 2025, helping push startup funding up nearly 76% year-over-year to $162.8 billion.

Thinking Machines might be pre-revenue, but with $2 billion in the bank and a $12 billion valuation, it’s already reshaping the conversation around what early-stage AI funding can look like.

Thinking Machines Lab exists to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence.

We’re building multimodal AI that works with how you naturally interact with the world – through conversation, through sight, through the messy way we collaborate. We’re…

— Mira Murati (@miramurati) July 15, 2025

Murati’s Vision for AI

Thinking Machines isn’t just another AI startup with big funding and a buzzy founder. The company is aiming to rethink how AI is developed and deployed, starting with a focus on collaboration, transparency, and open research. While most major players are tightening their grip on proprietary models and data, Murati’s team is taking a different route. They’ve committed to releasing research papers, datasets, and technical specs as part of their development process.

The stated goal is to make AI systems that people can actually work with—not just tools that deliver outputs, but collaborators in problem-solving across areas like science, engineering, and beyond.

Murati has been vocal about wanting AI to be more accessible and adaptable. Her vision is grounded in her years of experience shaping key products at OpenAI. That context gives Thinking Machines a strategic edge, especially as more AI development becomes concentrated in fewer hands.

The Heavyweight AI Team Behind Thinking Machines

The startup has attracted a stacked lineup of AI researchers from OpenAI and other leading AI companies. Some of the key hires include:

• John Schulman – Co-led the creation of ChatGPT, now Chief Scientist
• Barret Zoph – Former OpenAI VP of Research, now Chief Technology Officer
• Jonathan Lachman – Former OpenAI Head of Special Projects
• Alexander Kirillov – Worked on ChatGPT’s voice mode

A Wired report revealed that the company’s first 10 hires included a senior OpenAI executive, plus talent from Google DeepMind and Character AI. Murati has also brought in engineers and researchers from Meta and Anthropic, signaling that this is no small operation.

It’s not hard to see why investors are interested. With Murati at the helm and a stacked roster of top-tier AI talent, the pitch is clear: this is a bet on people, not product, at least for now.

According to the company, the goal is to build AI systems that are “more widely understood, customizable, and generally capable” than what’s currently out there.

That’s a big promise. But if the team behind Thinking Machines Lab pulls it off, they may not just raise one of the biggest seed rounds in history—they could end up shaping where AI is headed next.

Why It Matters

Thinking Machines Lab has the team, the funding, and the ambition to make waves in AI research. Its pledge to keep things open—sharing research, datasets, and model details—stands out in a field that’s quickly becoming more secretive.

It’s early days, but with Murati leading and a deep bench of AI veterans onboard, this startup could play a major role in shaping what comes next. If the funding lands as reported, it’ll instantly rank among the most valuable AI ventures to spin out of OpenAI’s alumni network.

Read Mira Murati’s full post on X below:

“Thinking Machines Lab exists to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence.

We’re building multimodal AI that works with how you naturally interact with the world – through conversation, through sight, through the messy way we collaborate. We’re excited that in the next couple months we’ll be able to share our first product, which will include a significant open source component and be useful for researchers and startups developing custom models. Soon, we’ll also share our best science to help the research community better understand frontier AI systems.

To accelerate our progress, we’re happy to confirm that we’ve raised $2B led by a16z with participation from NVIDIA, Accel, ServiceNow, CISCO, AMD, Jane Street and more who share our mission.

We’re always looking for extraordinary talent that learns by doing, turning research into useful things. We believe AI should serve as an extension of individual agency and, in the spirit of freedom, be distributed as widely and equitably as possible. We hope this vision resonates with those who share our commitment to advancing the field. If so, join us. https://thinkingmachines.paperform.co”