Thinking machines in talks for one billion dollar funding round at forty billion dollar valuation

Thinking Machines, the artificial intelligence laboratory founded early last year by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, is currently in discussions to raise one billion dollars at a valuation of at least forty billion dollars. Existing backer Accel is reportedly in talks to lead the upcoming fundraise.

Valuation and financials

If completed, the new round would value the company below the fifty billion dollar valuation that Thinking Machines reportedly sought to secure late last year. Financial figures indicate that the startup maintains an annual revenue run rate of over one hundred million dollars. At that revenue level, a forty billion dollar valuation reflects an exceptionally high revenue multiple.

Products and background

In July, the company introduced Inkling, an open-weight model that generates revenue by charging usage-based compute fees for adapting models on proprietary data via its Tinker platform. The startup previously completed a two billion dollar seed financing that valued the company at twelve billion dollars, backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, GV, Lightspeed, and Conviction Partners.

Organizational changes

Initial investor enthusiasm was driven largely by the pedigree of Murati and the former OpenAI researchers who joined the venture. Since its founding, the company has experienced several high-profile departures, with co-founders such as Lilian Weng and Luke Metz returning to OpenAI. Representatives for Accel and Thinking Machines have not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the current funding discussions.