---
type: entity
entity_type: lab
name: "Thinking Machines Lab"
domain: ai-alignment
handles: ["@thinkingmachlab"]
website: https://thinkingmachines.ai
status: emerging
founded: 2025-01-01
founders: ["Mira Murati", "John Schulman", "Barrett Zoph", "Lilian Weng", "Andrew Tulloch", "Luke Metz"]
category: "Frontier AI research laboratory"
stage: seed
funding: "$2B seed (Jul 2025)"
key_metrics:
  valuation: "$12B (seed, Jul 2025)"
  valuation_target: "$50B (reportedly seeking)"
  revenue: "Pre-revenue (Tinker fine-tuning API launched)"
  employees: null
competitors: ["OpenAI", "Anthropic", "SSI"]
tracked_by: theseus
created: 2026-03-16
last_updated: 2026-03-16
---

# Thinking Machines Lab

## Overview
The highest-profile AI lab spinout in history, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati with a founding team of senior OpenAI researchers including John Schulman (RL/alignment research lead) and Barrett Zoph. Murati was named 2026 CNBC Changemaker. Secured the largest seed round ever ($2B at $12B) and a significant Nvidia investment with commitment to 1 GW of Vera Rubin systems.

## Current State
- Pre-revenue, own models expected 2026
- Released Tinker fine-tuning API as first product
- Nvidia made "significant investment" (Mar 2026) + 1 GW Vera Rubin commitment
- Reportedly seeking $5B at $50B valuation

## Timeline
- **2024-09** — Mira Murati departed OpenAI as CTO
- **2025-01** — Thinking Machines Lab founded
- **2025-07** — Raised $2B seed at $12B valuation — largest seed round ever
- **2026-03** — Nvidia investment + 1 GW Vera Rubin systems commitment

## Competitive Position
The founding team is TML's primary asset: Murati's product vision (scaled ChatGPT at OpenAI), Schulman's RL and alignment research (PPO, RLHF), Zoph's scaling research. The team composition suggests a lab that takes alignment seriously by design — Schulman's research focus is alignment methodology, not pure capability.

The Nvidia partnership (compute commitment) provides infrastructure parity with larger labs. The key question: can they ship competitive models before their $2B runs out, or will they need the $50B raise?

## Relationship to KB
- [[the first mover to superintelligence likely gains decisive strategic advantage because the gap between leader and followers accelerates during takeoff]] — TML is attempting to enter the race late with superior team composition
- [[no research group is building alignment through collective intelligence infrastructure despite the field converging on problems that require it]] — TML's Schulman may pursue alignment differently than existing labs

Topics:
- [[_map]]