Thinking Machines, $40B valuation at $1B funding round in talks
Original: Accel reportedly in talks to lead $1B round for Thinking Machines at $40B valuation
Why This Matters
The round highlights surging valuations for frontier AI labs even amid high-profile talent departures.
Mira Murati's AI lab Thinking Machines is in talks to raise $1B at a $40B+ valuation, led by existing backer Accel. The company's annual revenue run rate exceeds $100M, per a source. This would be below the $50B valuation sought in late 2025.
Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati in early 2025, is in discussions to raise $1 billion at a valuation of at least $40 billion, according to The Information and a TechCrunch source. Existing investor Accel is reportedly in talks to lead the round. The company's annual revenue run rate has surpassed $100 million, according to a source familiar with its financials — making the $40B valuation an extraordinarily high revenue multiple. The reported valuation falls below the $50 billion figure Thinking Machines reportedly targeted in late 2025. The company's prior fundraise was a $2 billion seed round — one of the largest in history — which valued it at $12 billion. That round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Nvidia, GV, Lightspeed, and Conviction Partners. In July 2026, Thinking Machines launched Inkling, an open-weight model that generates revenue through usage-based compute fees on its Tinker platform. The company has also faced notable departures, including co-founders Lilian Weng and Luke Metz, who returned to OpenAI. Accel and Thinking Machines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.