Thinking Machines Lab seeks $40B valuation amid funding talks

Thinking Machines Lab, the AI company founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is in discussions to raise capital at a valuation of roughly $40 billion. If the round closes at that number, it would represent a more than threefold jump from the $12 billion post-money valuation the company secured during its seed round in July 2025. From $12B to $50B to $40B: the valuation rollercoaster Thinking Machines Lab burst onto the scene in February 2025 when Murati, fresh off her departure from OpenAI, assembled a team of former colleagues to build what she envisioned as a public benefit corporation focused on scalable AI models and developer tools. The company wasted little time raising capital. Its $2 billion seed round, which closed in July 2025, ranked among the largest seed financings on record. Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD all participated, alongside an eclectic group that included a small investment from the Albanian government (Murati is of Albanian descent). By late 2025, the company was reportedly exploring a follow-on raise at valuations as high as $50 billion. Those talks collapsed by early 2026, pushing the company back to its post-seed valuation of $12 billion. What th...