Thinking Machines Lab Nears $5 Billion Funding Round at $40 Billion Valuation

Thinking Machines Lab is set to close a fresh funding round as soon as this week, according to Business Insider. The AI startup is raising $5 billion at a $40 billion pre-money valuation, with Accel leading the round, according to multiple sources cited in the report. The company previously raised a $2 billion seed round and was valued at more than $10 billion before launching a product.

The reported round would more than triple Thinking Machines Lab’s valuation from its last public round. Business Insider frames the move as a sign that investors remain willing to place major bets on AI labs even as competition for AI talent intensifies. The company had previously sought a new round at a $50 billion valuation, but those talks were abandoned.

Thinking Machines Lab was founded by Mira Murati, who previously served as OpenAI’s chief technology officer. The company emerged from stealth last year with attention on its leadership’s deep ties to OpenAI, including key figures who helped train early versions of ChatGPT. Its first tool, Tinker, is designed to help users fine-tune large language AI models more easily.

Business Insider reports that Thinking Machines Lab has attracted top talent, including competitive coder Neal Wu. At the same time, the company has lost founding members including Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Andrew Tulloch to rival companies. The report says about a third of the founding team has left, citing factors including large pay packages from rival AI labs such as Meta and OpenAI.