OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati poaches 20 OpenAI researchers

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati has launched a new AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab. The company has reportedly recruited nearly 30 leading researchers and engineers from major AI companies, including her former employer, OpenAI, as well as Meta and Mistral.
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the startup, which aims to build AI systems to encode human values and have broader applications, now employs a significant number of former OpenAI employees (around two-thirds of the workforce), including prominent researcher Barret Zoph as well as OpenAI co-founder John Schulman.
Zoph, who left OpenAI alongside Murati in September 2024, will serve as the startup's technology chief. Meanwhile, OpenAI co-founder John Schulman, who departed the Microsoft-backed company for rival Anthropic in August 2024 to “focus on AI alignment,” has been appointed as the startup's chief scientist, the report noted.
AI alignment involves embedding human values into AI models to enhance their safety and reliability—a core priority for Murati's startup.
The report also cited sources who requested anonymity to discuss private matters to claim that more OpenAI employees are expected to join Thinking Machines Lab. An earlier report also stated that the startup has also been in talks with investors to secure venture capital funding.
What will Thinking Machines Lab work on
Thinking Machines Lab stated that its approach stands out from competitors due to its collaborative design by both the research and product teams. The company also plans to support AI alignment research by sharing code, datasets, and model specifications.
“While current systems excel at programming and mathematics, we're building AI that can adapt to the full spectrum of human expertise and enable a broader spectrum of applications,” the startup said.
Murati, the CEO of Thinking Machines Lab, has joined a growing list of former OpenAI executives launching AI startups. Other notable startups, Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence, have also attracted ex-OpenAI researchers and secured billions in funding.
In 2018, Murati joined OpenAI to lead ChatGPT’s development and often represented the company alongside CEO Sam Altman. Her sudden resignation was part of a wave of high-profile departures amid governance changes. Before OpenAI, she worked at Leap Motion and Tesla.