The story of Mira Murati is a remarkable one, worthy of inspiring any woman striving to break through the glass ceiling that is so prevalent in the world of technology startups.
An engineer of Albanian descent, Mira worked at companies such as Goldman Sachs, Tesla, and Leap Motion. She became part of the inner circle at OpenAI, where she held the position of CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and even served as interim CEO for three days, when Sam Altman was dismissed by the Board of Directors.
After six years at the technology company, she decided to step aside to embark on her own path. Just a few days later, and at only 36 years of age, Murati founded Thinking Machine Lab, a startup specializing in the development of artificial intelligence systems, which has just closed a funding round of 2 billion dollars, one of the largest in history.
But this is only the latest chapter of her story. Mira Murati is much more than that. In this article, we share with you who this AI expert is and the nature of her new project.
Mira was born in Vlorë, Albania, on December 16, 1988, and from a very young age distinguished herself through her academic dedication and her ability to adapt to new environments. At the age of 16, she moved to Canada to study at Pearson College UWC on Vancouver Island, a leading educational institution, where she first became interested in technology.
After completing high school, she went to the United States to pursue two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts at Colby College (2011) and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College (2012).
Her professional journey began with a summer internship at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo in 2011, where she learned a great deal about the world of finance. Two years later, she joined Tesla Motors, where she was a Senior Product Manager and took part in the development of the Model X, the electric vehicle with gullwing doors that became one of the most ambitious ventures of Elon Musk‘s company.
In 2016, she joined Leap Motion, a company that developed interface technology based on hand and motion detection. As Vice President of Product and Engineering, Murati was responsible for creating innovative solutions for human-computer interaction in augmented reality. This was a pivotal step in her career, establishing her as one of the brightest minds in the technology sector and opening the doors to her subsequent entry into OpenAI.
In 2018, Mira Murati joined OpenAI as Vice President of Applied AI and Partnerships. However, after the “inner circle” recognized her leadership abilities and technical expertise, the Albanian professional was appointed CTO (in 2022). In this crucial role, she had a direct influence on the development of some of the most disruptive projects in AI, such as ChatGPT, Dall-e, and Codex.
Murati excelled as a leader of multidisciplinary teams, for her strategic vision in such a competitive environment, and for her focus on safety and ethics in AI. During her time at the company, she oversaw the evolution of cutting-edge technologies, ranging from the creation of advanced language models to the development of computer vision systems, and was involved in decisions related to the expansion and commercialization of OpenAI’s products.
On her Instagram account, Mira has a single post, which is a photo with the OpenAI team from May 2023
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mira Murati (@_iraurati)
A post shared by Mira Murati (@_iraurati)
In November 2023, an unexpected event became a milestone in her career when Sam Altman was dismissed from OpenAI by the Board of Directors, leading Murati to assume the position of interim CEO for three days. During that brief but intense period, she demonstrated a remarkable ability to lead under pressure and manage the crisis, but was soon replaced by Emmett Shear when Altman was reinstated at the organization.
Her time at OpenAI left a significant mark, both in terms of technological achievements and the creation of a legacy regarding the ethical responsibility of major technology companies. In fact, it was at this point that certain ideological differences with Altman emerged, resulting in her departure from the company in September 2024, along with several other executives.
In a post on X, the engineer stated that she was stepping away from the company because she wanted “time and space” for her own exploration. “For now, my main objective is to do everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition and maintain the momentum we have built. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this extraordinary team.” she wrote.
I shared the following note with the OpenAI team today. pic.twitter.com/nsZ4khI06P — Mira Murati (@miramurati) September 25, 2024
I shared the following note with the OpenAI team today. pic.twitter.com/nsZ4khI06P
— Mira Murati (@miramurati) September 25, 2024
Before departing OpenAI, Mira was already working on Thinking Machines Lab, a startup focused on developing artificial intelligence systems that diverge from conventional solutions. The company, formally established in September 2024 and headquartered in San Francisco, seeks to redefine the way people interact with AI by making systems more accessible, comprehensible, and customizable for a wider audience.
As Murati herself explains in a post on X: “Thinking Machines Lab exists to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence.
We are developing multimodal AI that adapts to your natural way of interacting with the world: through conversation, through sight, and through the messy way in which we collaborate. We are excited that in the coming months we will be able to share our first product, which will include a significant open-source component and will be useful for researchers and startups developing customized models. Soon, we will also publish our top scientific findings to help the research community gain a better understanding of state-of-the-art AI systems.”
Thinking Machines Lab exists to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence. We’re building multimodal AI that works with how you naturally interact with the world – through conversation, through sight, through the messy way we collaborate. We’re… — Mira Murati (@miramurati) July 15, 2025
Thinking Machines Lab exists to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence.
We’re building multimodal AI that works with how you naturally interact with the world – through conversation, through sight, through the messy way we collaborate. We’re…
— Mira Murati (@miramurati) July 15, 2025
This project, led by Mira, aims not only to develop cutting-edge AI, but also places a strong emphasis on open science and security. Murati’s vision is to create tools that enable people to better understand how artificial intelligence works, especially in a context where these technologies have an ever-increasing impact on everyday life.
In this new endeavor, Mira has assembled a team of former members from OpenAI, Google, Meta, and other renowned companies, all committed to building products that foster transparency and trust in AI.
Among the standout members of the team are the former Vice President of Research at OpenAI, Barret Zoph, who serves as CTO in the new startup. Alexander Kirillov, a leader in multimodal research; John Lachman, Head of Special Projects; and Luke Metz, former principal researcher at OpenAI, have also joined. Additionally, John Schulman, who, apart from being the key inventor of ChatGPT, left OpenAI to join Anthropic last year and now assumes the role of Chief Scientist at Thinking Machines Lab.
The team, which moved into a San Francisco office at the end of 2024, has already started work on several projects. Although the specific products they will launch have not been disclosed, the company has made it clear that it will not merely replicate models such as ChatGPT or Claude. Murati and her team’s objective is to develop solutions that optimize collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence, advancing beyond simple chatbot-based interaction. This approach echoes the vision of Danny Hillis, a pioneer in computing, who more than 30 years ago envisioned collaboration between humans and machines through a company called “Thinking Machines Corporation.”
In July 2025, Thinking Machines Lab closed a funding round of EUR 1,818 million, one of the largest in Silicon Valley history, surpassed only by companies such as OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, Vantage Data Centers, and Data Brics. The startup received backing from investors such as Nvidia and CISCO, reaching a valuation of EUR 10,909 million in less than a year of existence and even though its first product is still months away from launching.
Regarding this achievement, the company’s Director of Multimodal Research, Alexander Kirillov, affirmed that “several breakthroughs ‘previously thought impossible’ have already been accomplished, paving the way for ‘the world’s most ambitious multimodal AI program’.”
To that end, the company is currently in a phase of active talent acquisition, so if you believe you have the profile to be part of the Thinking Machines Lab team, you are still in time to apply.
This significant financial backing from industry giants has positioned the startup as one of the most promising in the field of artificial intelligence and demonstrates the confidence investors have in Murati’s vision. With the capital raised, the company plans to expand its research and development, aiming to launch innovative and accessible solutions for a wide range of industries, from education to healthcare.
Photo: LinkedIn profile of Mira Murati
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