Thinking Machines Lab Hits $10B Valuation as OpenAI Alumni Dominate AI Startup Scene

Silicon Valley's new power players emerge from OpenAI's ranks, mirroring the PayPal Mafia's rise in the 2000s. Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, secured a $10 billion valuation despite having no launched products—a testament to the market's faith in AI's future.

The $2 billion funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz with Accel and Conviction Partners, underscores investor appetite for pedigree over prototypes. Murati's team includes OpenAI cofounder John Schulman and ex-research VP Barret Zoph, forming an all-star roster that's rewriting venture capital playbooks.

This pattern repeats across the AI landscape, where OpenAI alumni command billion-dollar valuations through sheer reputation. The phenomenon echoes crypto's early days, when whitepapers alone secured funding—except here, the currency is neural networks instead of blockchains.