Thinking Machines Lab, started by OpenAI's former tech chief, is reportedly raising $5 billion, a sign investors still back AI labs heavily.
Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by Mira Murati, is set to close a $5 billion funding round as soon as this week. Murati was previously OpenAI's chief technology officer. Multiple sources told Business Insider that Accel is leading the round.
The round values the company at $40 billion before the new money comes in. That is called a pre-money valuation. Last year the company was valued at more than $10 billion and raised a $2 billion seed round before it had launched a product. The new figure is more than triple that last public valuation. Last year it also sought a $50 billion valuation, but those talks were abandoned.
Its first product is Tinker, a tool that makes it easier to fine-tune large language models. Those are the AI systems behind chatbots. The company released a new version of Tinker on Thursday and said it brings gains in AI coding.
The company has also lost people. Business Insider reported in May that about a third of its founding team had left. Barret Zoph, Luke Metz and Andrew Tulloch went to rival companies. Big pay offers from labs like Meta and OpenAI were one factor.
A company representative declined to comment, and Accel did not respond to a request for comment. The deal rests on unnamed sources, so final terms could differ once it closes.
Investors are still pouring huge sums into AI labs, even as those labs fight to keep their top people.
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