Thinking Machines Lab targets $5 billion at a $40 billion valuation

Thinking Machines Lab is preparing a $5 billion funding round at a $40 billion valuation, with Accel leading the charge. This operation comes after notable departures within the founding team and an abandoned attempt last year to achieve a $50 billion valuation. The company, founded by Mira Murati, is simultaneously pushing its Tinker tool for fine-tuning language models.

Founders Departing to Meta and OpenAI

The competition for AI talent has resulted in significant exits at Thinking Machines Lab. The company has lost key members of its founding teams to Meta and OpenAI, including Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Andrew Tulloch. In May, it was reported that about a third of the founding team had left the company, partly lured by high compensation offers from competing labs.

Ongoing $5B Round at $40B Led by Accel

According to several sources close to the matter, Thinking Machines Lab is on the verge of finalizing a $5 billion raise for a pre-money valuation of $40 billion, with Accel at the helm of the round. This level could more than triple the last public valuation, following a $2 billion round last year when the company was valued at over $10 billion. Last year, discussions to raise at a $50 billion valuation were initiated but ultimately abandoned. A representative from Thinking Machines Lab declined to comment, and Accel did not respond to inquiries. In September, it was reported that the company was in talks for new funding.

Tinker Product and OpenAI Legacy

Founded and led by Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, the company highlights strong ties to the ChatGPT model ecosystem, to which other key members have contributed. Its first tool, Tinker, allows for finer adjustments of language models and was updated on Thursday. The company states that the new version has made progress in AI coding. Thinking Machines Lab has also recruited recognized profiles, such as competitive coder Neal Wu.