After leaving OpenAI, Mira Murati debuts her AI startup Thinking Machines Lab

Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, has tapped about 30 leading researchers and engineers from competitors such as OpenAI, Meta and Mistral, it said in a blog post on Tuesday.

The team — roughly two-thirds of which comprises former OpenAI employees — includes Barret Zoph, a prominent researcher who left the ChatGPT maker on the same day as Murati in late September. Zoph will serve as the startup’s technology chief.

OpenAI co-founder John Schulman is the startup’s chief scientist. Schulman left OpenAI for rival Anthropic in August, citing wanting to “focus on AI alignment”.

AI alignment refers to a process of encoding human values into AI models to make them safer and more reliable — a key focus for Murati’s startup.

Murati is among a growing list of former OpenAI executives, who are responsible for the launch of startups such as Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence. She is raising funds from venture capitalists for her new artificial intelligence startup, Reuters had reported in October.

“While current systems excel at programming and mathematics, we’re building AI that can adapt to the full spectrum of human expertise and enable a broader spectrum of applications,” the startup said.

The company plans to enable external research on alignment by sharing code, datasets, and model specifications, it said.

After Murati joined OpenAI in June 2018, she frequently appeared alongside CEO Sam Altman as the public face of the ChatGPT maker.

Her abrupt resignation had marked another high-profile exit from the company as it undergoes major governance structure changes.

Prior to OpenAI, she had worked at augmented reality startup Leap Motion and Tesla.

—Krystal Hu and Arsheeya Bajwa, Reuters

https://www.fastcompany.com/91280628/mira-murati-debuts-ai-startup-thinking-machines-lab?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Created 1mo | Feb 18, 2025, 10:50:04 PM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

Straight Talk Wireless rolls out smartphone vending machines at Walmart stores

For those tired of waiting in line to buy a new smartphone or anxiously refreshing a delivery tracking site to make sure a new phone arrives intact, Verizon’s

Apr 3, 2025, 10:30:03 AM | Fast company - tech
The Tumblr revival is real—and Gen Z is leading the charge

Rumors of a Tumblr comeback have been bubbling for a couple of years—think a pair of Doc Martens here, a splash of pastel hair dye there. Now, Gen Z is embracing the platform as a refuge from an i

Apr 3, 2025, 5:40:10 AM | Fast company - tech
Andrew Tate is back—and he’s getting a hero’s welcome from right-wing podcasters

You can’t talk about the manosphere without mentioning Andrew Tate. The British-American influencer and former professional kickboxer built his platform by promoting misogynistic ideas—claiming wo

Apr 2, 2025, 10:50:04 PM | Fast company - tech
Meta and UFC team up to bring AI and VR to fans

UFC is joining up with Facebook’s parent company

Apr 2, 2025, 10:50:02 PM | Fast company - tech
An AI watchdog accused OpenAI of using copyrighted books without permission

An artificial intelligence watchdog is accusing OpenAI of training its default ChatGPT model on copyrighted book content without permission.

In a new paper

Apr 2, 2025, 8:30:07 PM | Fast company - tech
Trump signals TikTok sale will done by April 5 deadline. Who will buy it?

As the deadline to strike a deal over TikTok approaches this week, President Donald Trump has signaled that he is confident his administrat

Apr 2, 2025, 6:20:04 PM | Fast company - tech
CERN scientists release blueprint for the Future Circular Collider

Top minds at the world’s largest atom smasher have released a blueprint for 

Apr 2, 2025, 6:20:03 PM | Fast company - tech