Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Launches AI Startup

The startup intends to build “tools to make AI work for their unique needs and goals” and also “to make AI systems more widely understood, customizable, and generally capable.”

Thinking Machines Lab has employed 30 scientists and engineers, with two-thirds of the employees from OpenAI and the remaining from Meta and Mistral, according to a report by Reuters. Mira Murati will be the CEO of the Thinking Machines Lab, John Schulman will serve as the Chief Scientist, and Barrett Zoph will take on the role of CTO.

In a blog post, Thinking Machines Lab wrote, “While AI capabilities have advanced dramatically, key gaps remain.”

“The scientific community’s understanding of frontier AI systems lags behind rapidly advancing capabilities. Knowledge of how these systems are trained is concentrated within the top research labs, limiting both the public discourse on AI and people’s abilities to use AI effectively. And, despite their potential, these systems remain difficult for people to customize to their specific needs and values,” the blog post read.

The startup said that they are building “multimodal systems that work with people collaboratively” and “can adapt to the full spectrum of human expertise and enable a broader spectrum of applications.”

They are building models at the frontier of capabilities in domains like science and programming. Ultimately, the most advanced models will unlock the most transformative applications and benefits, such as enabling novel scientific discoveries and engineering breakthroughs,” it said.

Mira worked at augmented reality startup Leap Motion and also at Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Mira joined OpenAI in 2018 to lead the development of ChatGPT and appeared frequently alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Her abrupt resignation from the AI startup was one of a string of high-profile exits from the company as it underwent governance structure changes.