Leading researchers depart Thinking Machines for OpenAI after internal dispute

Several high‑profile researchers at the artificial‑intelligence start‑up Thinking Machines Lab left the company for OpenAI after a dispute with Chief Executive Mira Murati, the New York Times reported. On Jan. 12, Sam Schoenholz asked Ms. Murati to join a meeting with founders Barret Zoph and Luke Metz; the three had grown unhappy with the start‑up’s pace, its fundraising troubles at an internal $50 billion target and the lack of a completed deal with potential suitors.

The founders pushed for Mr. Zoph, the chief technology officer, to take charge of technical direction; Ms. Murati fired Mr. Zoph two days later, and OpenAI immediately rehired him along with Mr. Metz and Mr. Schoenholz. About nine other Thinking Machines employees have since departed for OpenAI or received offers, and Meta has made offers worth “hundreds of millions” to some staff, the report said.

Thinking Machines had raised $2 billion in July from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia and AMD, a round that valued the company at $12 billion even though the start‑up had not released a major product. It did release, in October, a tool for tailoring A.I. models to tasks that the Times said was similar to offerings from Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Some investors have privately questioned whether Thinking Machines has a path forward as an independent company; Venky Ganesan of Menlo Ventures said investors need many things to go right for a company to be “happy.” For now, Ms.

Key Topics

Tech, Thinking Machines, Openai, Mira Murati, Barret Zoph, Andreessen Horowitz