Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, has closed a landmark $2 billion funding round, valuing the company at $12 billion just months after its February launch. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and included strategic backing from Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, and Jane Street.
Despite having no products or revenue to date, Thinking Machines has rapidly emerged as a major player in the AI talent wars, with nearly two-thirds of its team comprised of former OpenAI staff. Murati announced that the company will unveil its first product in the coming months, featuring open-source components designed to support researchers and startups building custom AI models.
With ambitions to develop safer, more general-purpose AI systems, Thinking Machines joins the ranks of high-profile spinouts like Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence, as investor demand for elite AI teams continues to drive early-stage megadeals. In the first half of 2025 alone, U.S. startups raised nearly $163 billion, with AI ventures accounting for over 64% of total deal value, according to PitchBook.
