Startup former OpenAI CTO wants to 'pioneer in AI security'

Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, launched her new AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, this week. The company aims to make AI systems more accessible, understandable, and versatile. With a team of former employees from OpenAI and other tech giants such as Google, it focuses on innovative AI models that strengthen the collaboration between humans and AI. Murati aims to bridge the gap between advanced AI technology and public understanding through openness and knowledge sharing. The company plans to publish regular technical updates and research as part of its commitment to transparency. Thinking Machines Lab aims to pioneer AI security and collaboration models without the limitations of existing systems such as ChatGPT or Claude.

Team of AI experts

Thinking Machines Lab has assembled an impressive team consisting of 29 top experts. Led by Mira Murati as CEO, the company has recruited several key figures, including John Schulman as chief scientist and Barret Zoph as CTO. The team includes experienced professionals who have contributed to developing leading AI products such as ChatGPT and Character.ai. These experts also bring experience from projects such as PyTorch, OpenAI Gym, Fairseq, and Segment Anything. Murati's experience is impressive - she worked at OpenAI for more than six years, where she played a crucial role in the development of ChatGPT. Before her time at OpenAI, she was a senior product manager at Tesla, where she contributed to the development of Autopilot.

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Innovative vision of AI development

Thinking Machines Lab stands out for its unique approach to AI development. The company argues that knowledge about training AI systems is too concentrated within a few top laboratories, which limits both public discourse and the effective use of AI. Their focus is on multimodal systems that enable natural and efficient communication. The company believes that the most advanced models will lead to breakthrough applications in scientific discovery and engineering innovations. This vision comes at a crucial time: the global AI market is growing at an annual rate of 27.67% between 2025-30, with an expected total value of $826.7 billion.

Transparency and knowledge sharing as core values

Thinking Machines Lab is committed to transparency, and knowledge sharing is a distinguishing element. The company has announced the publication of technical blog posts, papers, and code. They believe that sharing their work will benefit the public and improve their research culture. This open approach contrasts with the traditionally closed culture of large AI labs. The focus is developing strong foundations for more capable AI systems and advancing AI research. The company wants to actively contribute to AI security by sharing best practices.

Strategic positioning in AI landscape

Thinking Machines Lab is positioning itself in a fascinating period of AI development. There are rumors that Murati is in talks to raise more than $100 million from venture capital firms. This development occurs when other AI pioneers are also launching new initiatives. For example, Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder, recently founded Safe Superintelligence and raised $1 billion. The company sees multimodality as critical for enabling more natural and efficient communication, better-capturing intentions, and supporting deeper integration in real-world environments. Their focus is not on copying existing models such as ChatGPT or Claude but optimizing human-AI collaboration.

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