Former OpenAI CTO's Thinking Machines in talks to raise $1 billion at $40 billion valuation

PANews reported on September 4, according to TechCrunch, that Thinking Machines, the AI lab founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is in talks to raise $1 billion at a valuation of at least $40 billion, with existing investor Accel leading the round.

The company was founded early last year and launched its open-weight model Inkling in July, charging for compute usage through the Tinker platform, with annualized revenue exceeding $100 million. Previously, Thinking Machines completed a $2 billion funding round at a $12 billion valuation, led by a16z, with participation from Nvidia, GV, and others. Since then, several co-founders, including Lilian Weng and Luke Metz, have returned to OpenAI. If this round is completed, the valuation would be lower than the $50 billion target rumored late last year.