Thinking Machines Lab, the artificial intelligence startup founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, has successfully concluded a significant funding round, raising approximately $2 billion. This substantial investment values the nascent company at an impressive $12 billion. The funding initiative was spearheaded by the prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and saw broad participation from other major industry players, including AI chip giant Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, and Jane Street.

This massive funding injection is particularly noteworthy given that Thinking Machines Lab was only launched in February and currently has no revenue or products. Such an overwhelming show of investor confidence underscores Mira Murati's considerable influence and her ability to attract capital in an intensely competitive sector, characterized by a fierce talent war for top executives in artificial intelligence. Reuters had previously reported on Andreessen Horowitz's discussions to lead what was described as an outsized early-stage funding round back in April.

Looking ahead, CEO Murati has indicated that the company plans to share its inaugural product within the next couple of months. This forthcoming product is set to include a significant open-source component, designed to be particularly beneficial for researchers and startups engaged in developing custom AI models. Thinking Machines Lab's stated mission is to construct artificial intelligence systems that are inherently safer, more reliable, and capable of a broader range of applications compared to existing rivals in the market.

The startup's team composition further highlights its pedigree, with nearly two-thirds of its founding members at launch being former employees of OpenAI. Murati herself established Thinking Machines after her departure from OpenAI last September, positioning her among a growing cohort of former executives from the ChatGPT maker who have ventured into launching their own AI startups. Notable examples include Dario Amodei's Anthropic and Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence, both of which have successfully attracted former OpenAI researchers and secured billions of dollars in funding, echoing the robust investor appetite in the AI space.

Indeed, investor enthusiasm for new AI startups has remained exceptionally strong, even amidst some broader questions concerning tech industry spending. This sustained interest has been a significant factor in the surge of U.S. startup funding, which increased by nearly 76% to reach $162.8 billion in the first half of 2025. A Pitchbook report indicates that artificial intelligence ventures alone accounted for approximately 64.1% of the total deal value during this period, solidifying AI's dominant position in the venture capital landscape.