AI startup Thinking Machines Lab has raised US$2 billion at US$12 billion valuation in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Other investors include Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, and Jane Street.

Founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati in February 2025, the company has yet to release products or generate revenue.

Nearly two-thirds of its initial team are former OpenAI employees.

The startup aims to build AI systems focused on safety, reliability, and broader applications.

Murati joins other ex-OpenAI executives, like Dario Amodei and Ilya Sutskever, who have launched well-funded AI ventures.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The meteoric rise of AI funding creates unprecedented valuations

Thinking Machines Lab’s massive $2 billion funding round reflects a broader AI investment surge occurring across the venture capital landscape.

Global VC funding for AI companies reached $100 billion in 2024, representing an 80% increase from 2023 and accounting for nearly one-third of all global venture funding 1.

This extraordinary growth has shifted traditional startup valuation metrics, with Thinking Machines securing a reported $10 billion valuation despite having no products or revenue 2.

The influx of capital reflects structural changes in the investment environment, with AI capturing 64.1% of total U.S. startup deal value in the first half of 2025 according to Pitchbook.

2️⃣ The OpenAI talent diaspora fuels a new generation of competitors

Thinking Machines Lab represents part of a significant exodus of top AI researchers from OpenAI, with nearly two-thirds of its team coming from the ChatGPT maker.

This pattern extends beyond Murati, with former OpenAI executives Dario Amodei and Ilya Sutskever also launching well-funded startups (Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence respectively) that have attracted billions in investment.

Recent Thinking Machines developments