Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Targets Record-Breaking $2 Billion Seed Round For New AI Startup – Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBF)

Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of ChatGPT-parent OpenAI, is reportedly seeking to raise a staggering $2 billion seed round for her new AI venture, Thinking Machines Lab.

What Happened: The amount is twice the amount Murati was targeting just under two months ago, when she was said to be seeking around $1 billion at a $9 billion valuation, reported Business Insider, citing people familiar with the matter.

If confirmed, it would be one of the largest seed rounds in tech history, dwarfing previous records and reaffirming the continued investor frenzy around artificial intelligence.

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Consider OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever, who raised $1 billion in seed funding for his new venture, Safe Superintelligence — a company that has already been pegged with a massive $30 billion valuation.

Another notable example is Sierra, a conversational AI startup launched in 2023 by Bret Taylor, who also chairs OpenAI and previously co-led Salesforce. That company has reportedly reached a valuation of $4.5 billion.

It also reflects a broader trend: seed rounds, especially in AI, are getting bigger. In 2015, the largest seed round was just $50 million. In 2025, PitchBook lists the largest closed seed at $200 million, noted Fortune.

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Why It Matters: Murati launched Thinking Machines shortly after departing OpenAI in late 2024. Though details of the company’s product or service remain vague, its website states its mission is “to make AI systems more widely understood, customizable, and generally capable.”

Thinking Machines’ team includes OpenAI veterans such as chief scientist John Schulman, who co-led the development of ChatGPT, and advisors Alec Radford and Bob McGrew. Schulman reportedly left Anthropic after a short tenure to reunite with Murati on the new venture.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, OpenAI also secured a historic $40 billion funding round, pushing its valuation to $300 billion. Major backers in the round include SoftBank Group SFTBF SFTBY and Microsoft Corp. MSFT.

According to data from PitchBook, this marks the largest funding round ever recorded and nearly doubles OpenAI’s prior valuation of $157 billion.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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