Mira Murati’s New AI Startup Is Gunning for a $2B Seed Round

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s new venture, Thinking Machines, is eyeing a $2B seed round with top ex-OpenAI talent.

Mira Murati isn’t easing into her post-OpenAI era—she’s going big. Like, $2 billion big.

According to multiple reports, the former CTO of OpenAI is in talks to raise a record-breaking $2 billion seed round for her brand-new venture, Thinking Machines Lab. If it lands, it would be one of the largest early-stage funding rounds in tech history.

While the company is still largely in stealth mode, what’s already turning heads is the founding team. Upon leaving OpenAI Murati ‘took’ a powerhouse of a crew from OpenAI. It included big names like Alec Radford, John Schulman, Bob McGrew, Barret Zoph, and Alexander Kirillov. These are the folks who helped shape GPT and steer the trajectory of modern AI.

So yeah, VCs are paying attention.

What’s the Pitch?

Thinking Machines wants to build AI that’s more customizable, more capable, and more open. The plan includes releasing code, datasets, and models to support outside research and improve AI alignment.

The goal? Less black box, more collaboration.

As Murati herself said earlier this year: 

“Scientific progress is a collective effort,” Thinking Machines Lab said. “We believe that we’ll most effectively advance humanity’s understanding of AI by collaborating with the wider community of researchers and builders.”

Why It Matters

A $2B raise for a company with no product on the market is rare—and kind of wild—but it shows how confident the market is in Murati’s track record. After all, she helped lead OpenAI through some of its biggest leaps.

Now, with Thinking Machines, she’s betting she can do it again—but on her own terms.

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