In a remarkable feat, Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup founded by OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati, has officially closed a staggering $2 billion seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The deal, which also saw participation from tech giants like Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, and Jane Street, values the fledgling company at a whopping $12 billion.
Just a month ago, several reports suggested that Thinking Machines Lab was close to securing a $2 billion funding round at a $10 billion valuation. However, it appears that the startup's valuation has skyrocketed in recent weeks.
This massive seed round is one of the largest in Silicon Valley history, reflecting the immense investor appetite to back promising new AI labs. Despite being less than a year old and yet to reveal its projects, Thinking Machines Lab has managed to attract significant interest and investment.
In a recent post, Murati hinted at the company's first product, stating that it plans to unveil its work in the "next couple months." The product will reportedly include a "significant open-source offering" and cater to researchers and startups building custom AI models. Murati also mentioned that the company will share its scientific findings to help the research community better understand frontier AI systems.
Thinking Machines Lab aims to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence. The company is building multimodal AI that works with how humans naturally interact with the world – through conversation, sight, and collaboration.
It remains unclear whether Murati's mention of an open AI model refers to a release similar to those by OpenAI's competitors. A spokesperson for Thinking Machines Lab declined to comment further on the matter.
Since its inception, Thinking Machines Lab has attracted several of Murati's former OpenAI colleagues, including John Schulman, Barret Zoph, and Luke Metz. The company is currently seeking to expand its team, specifically targeting individuals with a track record of building successful AI-driven products from the ground up.
Meta reportedly held talks to acquire Thinking Machines Lab in recent months to bolster its superintelligence efforts. However, the discussions did not progress to a final offer.
Thinking Machines Lab is one of a few AI startups that investors believe could pose a legitimate threat to leading AI model developers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. With billions in funding, Murati may have amassed a substantial war chest to train frontier AI models. The company previously struck a deal with Google Cloud to power its AI models.
While Thinking Machines Lab faces an uphill battle to catch up with other AI labs, it is likely banking on novel research breakthroughs to set itself apart. However, this task becomes increasingly difficult as Meta, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, and OpenAI invest billions in their research teams.