Accel in Talks to Lead Thinking Machines $1B Round at $40B Valuation

Thinking Machines, the artificial intelligence research laboratory founded early last year by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, is currently in discussions to raise one billion dollars in a new funding round. Existing backer Accel is expected to lead the transaction, which would establish a minimum valuation of forty billion dollars. This target reflects a calculated adjustment from the fifty billion dollar figure the startup reportedly sought late last year. Financial metrics indicate an annualized revenue run rate exceeding one hundred million dollars. At this commercial baseline, the proposed valuation implies a revenue multiple of approximately four hundred times, underscoring exceptional market confidence in the organization’s technological pipeline and long-term monetization strategy. The capital deployment will primarily scale compute infrastructure, expand the developer ecosystem, and accelerate enterprise product distribution. Commercial traction has been anchored by Inkling, an open-weight foundation model recently introduced to the market. Revenue generation relies on usage-based compute fees accessed through the Tinker platform, which facilitates the fine-tuning of large models on proprietary datasets. This approach positions the company as an infrastructure and customization provider rather than a base model competitor, aligning with current industry profit margins. The venture’s growth has been sustained by robust early capital. A preceding two billion dollar seed round valued the company at twelve billion dollars, marking one of the largest seed financings in venture history. Andreessen Horowitz orchestrated the investment alongside Nvidia, GV, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Conviction Partners. Investor allocation was heavily influenced by the technical credentials of Murati and the founding cohort of former OpenAI researchers. Despite strong financials, the organization has navigated notable executive transitions. Co-founders Lilian Weng and Luke Metz recently departed to return to OpenAI, highlighting intense industry talent competition. Management is expected to stabilize operational continuity while preparing for the upcoming capital event. Discussions remain active, with both parties declining immediate comment. A successful closing will cement the laboratory’s status among the most heavily funded independent AI entities, while the implied valuation multiples will continue to attract analyst scrutiny across the generative artificial intelligence sector.