$2B Raised: Murati’s Stealth AI Startup Surges to $10B
Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, has launched a new artificial intelligence venture, Thinking Machines Lab, and quietly closed a record-breaking $2 billion seed round.
Despite having no public product or revenue, the company is now valued at an eye-popping $10 billion. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Conviction Partners, with individual investor commitments starting at a minimum of $50 million.
Murati’s leadership experience and bold vision have clearly inspired deep-pocketed backers to place their bets early. Founded in February 2025, Thinking Machines Lab is structured as a public benefit corporation, signaling its goal of developing transparent, human-centric, and customizable AI systems.
So far, the company has stayed under the radar, offering no hints about its technology or product roadmap.
Murati has assembled a world class team of AI experts from leading labs such as OpenAI, DeepMind, Meta, Anthropic, and Mistral.
Notable members include OpenAI co founder John Schulman, as well as Alec Radford and Barret Zoph. Unusually, the company’s governance is designed to ensure tight control, with Murati holding dominant voting power.
Founding shareholders reportedly have up to 100x voting rights compared to standard equity. Even in the absence of a working product, the massive raise reflects the level of trust and expectation surrounding Murati’s next move.
With the spotlight firmly on Thinking Machines Lab, the industry is watching to see whether this secretive new player will challenge the giants of AI.
