Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is valued at $12B in its seed round

Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab raised $2B, valued at $12B, backed by top investors for AI breakthroughs.

: Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, recently closed a significant $2 billion seed round, marking one of the largest seed rounds in Silicon Valley history. Led by Andreessen Horowitz, notable participation came from Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, CISCO, AMD, and Jane Street. This funding round elevated the startup's valuation to an impressive $12 billion, reflecting strong investor confidence. Murati hinted at plans to reveal the company's first product soon, promising a remarkable open-source contribution aimed at assisting AI researchers and startups.

Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of OpenAI, has managed to capture substantial attention with her new venture, Thinking Machines Lab. The lab successfully raised $2 billion in its seed round from a consortium of high-profile investors, marking a pivotal moment in venture funding. The lead investor, Andreessen Horowitz, along with notable participants like Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, CISCO, AMD, and Jane Street, communicated their confidence by pushing the company's valuation to $12 billion. This substantial funding underscore the strong faith investors have in the emerging capabilities and vision of Thinking Machines Lab, despite the company being less than a year old.

According to statements made by company representatives to TechCrunch, June reports already hinted at a potential $2 billion closure and a valuation of $10 billion. However, in an upward revision, the final valuation stood at $12 billion. In the tech world, this seed round stands out not only because of its size but also due to the prestigious roster of supporters, highlighting immense investor interest in AI capabilities that promise transformative technological advancements.

The strategic roadmap proposed by Murati involves unveiling the lab’s first product, which reportedly features a substantial open-source component. Her announcement, shared on the social media platform X, projected a timeline of the coming months for the release. Murati elaborated that the innovation aims to empower researchers and startups by facilitating the development of custom AI models, as well as advancing the scientific community’s understanding of cutting-edge AI technologies.

Mira Murati's ambitious plans haven't gone unnoticed by tech giants. Speculations around potential acquisition talks with Meta have circulated, suggesting significant interest in beefing up their superintelligence capabilities. Nonetheless, these talks did not culminate in any formal acquisition offers. A focus on creating groundbreaking AI systems positions the company in direct competition with established entities like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, further stressing the need for innovative breakthroughs to set themselves apart.

Additionally, Murati has been actively pursuing talent acquisition, especially targeting individuals experienced in creating successful AI products. This effort taps into her network of former OpenAI colleagues, among whom distinguished talents such as John Schulman, Barret Zoph, and Luke Metz have already joined. The company also established a strategic deal with Google Cloud to power its AI models, reinforcing its infrastructure to support future growth and technological advancements.

Thinking Machines Lab stands as a beacon for potential disruption in the AI landscape. With strong financial backing and an ambitious roadmap, the startup aims to challenge prevailing AI giants while inspiring new developments in AI and machine learning. Investors and the tech community at large are now keenly observing how Murati will steer her company through the intensely competitive and rapidly evolving AI sector.

Sources: TechCrunch, The Verge, The Information

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