Introduction
On July 15, 2025, Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, closed a record-breaking $2 billion seed financing round at a $12 billion valuation. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with notable participation from Nvidia, AMD, Cisco, Accel, ServiceNow, Jane Street Capital, and the Albanian government. This funding dwarfs all previous early-stage rounds in AI startup history.
Background & Team
Founded in February 2025, Thinking Machines Lab emerged from stealth with an elite founding team. Beyond Murati, co-founders include former OpenAI luminaries John Schulman, Barrett Zoph, Lilian Weng, Andrew Tulloch, and Luke Metz. Nearly two-thirds of the initial team are former OpenAI researchers. The startup is structured as a public-benefit corporation, with Murati holding a weighted majority board vote.
Strategic Vision
Thinking Machines aims to build multimodal, collaborative general intelligence—AI that functions through natural interaction via speech, sight, and real-time collaboration. Murati has stated that the first major product, which includes an open-source component targeted at researchers and developers, will launch within months
Investment Details
- Lead investor: Andreessen Horowitz
- Major backers: Nvidia, Accel, AMD, Cisco, ServiceNow, Jane Street, Albanian government
- Valuation: $12 billion post-money
- Use of funds: Attract talent, build compute infrastructure, open R&D, and launch first products
This round reflects historic investor confidence despite no public product or revenue.
Why This Matters
- Unprecedented Scale: $2B seed round is the largest in venture history.
- Talent Magnet: With top-tier researchers and high compensation (~$450K–$500K avg salaries), the company is aggressively building an elite AI team.
- Open & Ethical Focus: Promising open-source release and public research engagement contrasts with more closed AI models.
Expert Insights
- Mira Murati, CEO: “We’re building multimodal AI that works as people naturally do—through conversation, sight, collaboration.
- FT Editorial: Sees the round as emblematic of a new era where founder reputation and ambition eclipse traditional metrics.
- WIRED: Observes that the founding team includes multiple key OpenAI talents and signals deep institutional trust.
Market Impact
This investment underscores AI’s dominance in 2025 tech venture capital—accounting for over 70% of U.S. VC deal value in 1H of the year. It also intensifies competition among AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Mistral
Product Roadmap & Use Cases
- Initial product: Expected in coming months, with open-source functionality targeting researchers and early adopters.
- Long-term goal: Build systems for collaborative intelligence across industries—healthcare, robotics, simulation, and scientific research.
Challenges & Risks
- Compute intensity: Competing in frontier AI requires massive GPU infrastructure and deep compute investment.
- Market skepticism: Some question backing a startup with no commercial product or revenue.
- Talent retention: Maintaining early hires amid aggressive poaching by incumbents like Meta and Google.
Future Outlook
If successful, Thinking Machines could emerge as a leader in next-gen AI infrastructure and safety, rivaling existing flagship labs. Its commitment to open-source and research may foster broader ecosystem trust. Analysts project valuations of $20B+ within 2–3 years if product execution aligns with vision.
Conclusion
Thinking Machines Lab funding marks a watershed moment for AI: a female-led, open-minded venture attracting unprecedented capital and talent in pursuit of multimodal general intelligence. Its success could redefine norms around product-free funding and ethical AI innovation.
