Mira Murati, who once led as Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI, is now spearheading an exciting new AI venture called Thinking Machines Lab. The buzz around this startup is hard to miss, especially since they’re aiming to secure a whopping $2 billion in seed funding. This ambitious goal is set to catapult the company’s valuation to a staggering $10 billion, which is double what was initially expected.
While details about the specific products that justify this massive valuation are still under wraps, the startup is quickly building a dream team of AI researchers. They’ve already brought on board some big names like Bob McGrew, who was the Chief Research Officer at OpenAI, and Alec Radford, a pivotal player in the development of GPT technologies. These two are joining as advisors, bringing a wealth of expertise to the table.
Thinking Machines Lab is all about pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence systems, with a focus on transparency and accessibility. The team has attracted around 30 top-notch researchers and engineers, many of whom have OpenAI on their resumes. Notable figures like John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI, have joined as Chief Scientist, while Jonathan Lachman and Barret Zoph have taken on roles as Head of Special Projects and CTO, respectively. Experts from tech giants like Google and Meta are also part of this dynamic team.
The startup is committed to open collaboration, planning to share its findings through technical blogs, scientific papers, and open-source code. Mira Murati is no stranger to innovation; she played a crucial role in developing ChatGPT during her time at OpenAI. Her impressive career also includes stints at Leap Motion and Tesla.
Thinking Machines Lab isn’t alone in this trend of AI startups emerging from former OpenAI executives. Safe Superintelligence (SSI), founded by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, is also making waves, nearing a significant funding milestone with a round expected to exceed $1 billion, pushing its valuation beyond $30 billion.
