Former OpenAI executive Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines, secured a $2 billion round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Nvidia, Cisco, and others.

Thinking Machines Lab, the artificial‑intelligence startup founded by former OpenAI chief executive Mira Murati, announced a $2 billion financing round that values the company at $12 billion.

Funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz

The round was spearheaded by venture‑capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, with notable participation from technology giants Nvidia and Cisco, among other investors.

Murati, who helped shape OpenAI’s flagship models, said the capital will accelerate the development of next‑generation AI systems and expand the company’s research labs.

Strategic investors and their interests

Nvidia’s involvement underscores its commitment to supplying the high‑performance GPUs that power large‑scale AI training, while Cisco aims to integrate advanced AI capabilities into its networking and security solutions.

  • Andreessen Horowitz – lead investor
  • Nvidia – strategic technology partner
  • Cisco – enterprise AI integration
  • Other venture firms – minority stakes

Implications for the AI landscape

The sizable valuation places Thinking Machines among the most valuable AI startups, signaling strong market confidence in Murati’s vision and the broader push toward more capable, general‑purpose AI platforms.

Industry analysts expect the fresh funding to intensify competition with established players such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, as well as to spur new collaborations across hardware and cloud providers.

We are building the next generation of AI that can understand and reason across domains, and this funding will help us bring those breakthroughs to market faster.

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