Thinking Machines in Talks for $1B Funding Led by Accel at $40B Valuation

Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is in discussions to raise $1B in funding. Existing investor Accel is expected to lead this round, with the valuation under discussion at approximately $40B.

This valuation is lower than the $50B target Thinking Machines aimed for late last year, but reflects a very high revenue multiple given the company's annual revenue run rate of over $100M. The company has released the open-weight model 'Inkling' and generates revenue through usage-based computing fees for adapting models with proprietary data via its Tinker platform.

Thinking Machines previously raised a $2B seed round at a $12B valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Nvidia, GV, and Conviction Partners. Investors backed the round based on Murati's and former OpenAI researchers' track records, but there have since been high-level departures, including some co-founders returning to OpenAI.