Murati’s Startup Bets on ‘RL for Business’ After Raising $2 Bn

Thinking Machines Lab (TML), the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has finally offered a glimpse into its strategy. The company has raised $2 billion at a $10 billion valuation from investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in just under five months, The Information reported.

TML has revealed that its focus is on creating custom AI solutions designed to help businesses increase revenue. Investors have described TML’s business model as “RL for businesses”, reflecting the startup’s emphasis on tailoring AI to business-specific metrics and needs.

A confirmation from Murati on the specific details is awaited. 

However, TML is reportedly expected to provide AI solutions tailored to specific industries, such as customer support, retail, and investment banking. The company may charge a premium for these highly customised models. 

While TML’s business focus is on enterprise AI, the startup also plans to develop a consumer-facing product. Details about the product remain unclear, but one idea that was previously discussed involved creating a chatbot to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The report also suggested that TML rents powerful NVIDIA servers through Google Cloud, a partnership that could position Google as a major benefactor should TML’s business grow. Other cloud providers, including Amazon, are also reportedly eager to collaborate with the startup, having met with Murati to explore potential opportunities.

TML, in its launch blog post, revealed that the startup has hired top-tier AI researchers and engineers from leading companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. 

When Murati left OpenAI and founded Thinking Machine Labs, she brought around 20 OpenAI employees with her and later expanded the team to 60 by hiring from OpenAI and other AI labs.

The company’s growing talent pool makes it an attractive acquisition target. We have written extensively on how AI talent is the new compute.  

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly discussed the possibility of investing in or acquiring TML, though talks have not progressed beyond the preliminary stage.

Moreover, Zuckerberg’s team reportedly made an acquisition offer for Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the AI startup co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. During its fundraising efforts, the startup had reportedly been valued at around $32 billion. However, the offer was declined. 

Yet, Meta is trying to hire SSI co-founder Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to strengthen its new AI division, which is headed by Wang.