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Thinking Machines Lab Raises $2 Billion Seed Round at $12 Billion Valuation, Poised to Challenge AI Giants
July 15, 2025
Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, officially closed a massive $2 billion seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch on Monday. The round also attracted participation from major tech players including Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, CISCO, AMD, and Jane Street, valuing the startup at an impressive $12 billion.
This funding round represents one of the largest seed or initial financing deals ever seen in Silicon Valley, highlighting the intense investor enthusiasm for emerging AI ventures. Just last June, multiple outlets reported that Thinking Machines Lab was nearing the close of this same round at a $10 billion valuation, signaling a rapid surge in investor confidence in the last month alone.
Despite being less than a year old, the startup has maintained a high level of secrecy around its projects, with no public disclosure about its specific work. However, Murati recently offered a glimpse into the company’s plans through a post on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that Thinking Machines Lab will unveil its first product within the next couple of months. She also mentioned that the release will include a “significant open source offering” aimed at benefiting researchers and startups building custom AI models.
“Soon, we’ll also share our best science to help the research community better understand frontier AI systems,” Murati added, though it remains unclear whether this means Thinking Machines Lab intends to release an open AI model similar to efforts by some of OpenAI’s competitors. A spokesperson for the startup declined to provide further comment.
Since its inception, Thinking Machines Lab has drawn talent from OpenAI, including notable figures like John Schulman, Barret Zoph, and Luke Metz. The company is actively recruiting, seeking professionals with a proven track record of “building successful AI-driven products from the ground up,” according to the startup’s website.
Reports suggest that Meta engaged in talks to acquire Thinking Machines Lab in recent months as part of its ambitions to advance superintelligence, but those discussions did not result in a final offer.
Positioned as one of the few AI startups considered a credible challenger to industry leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, Thinking Machines Lab is entering a fiercely competitive landscape. With billions in funding and a partnership with Google Cloud to power its AI models, the startup may have the resources needed to train cutting-edge AI systems.
Still, Murati faces a steep challenge in catching up with well-established labs backed by enormous research budgets. Success may hinge on breakthrough innovations and novel scientific contributions that distinguish Thinking Machines Lab in an increasingly crowded and well-funded AI field.
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