Accel Targets $1B Lead Investment in $40B-Valued Thinking Machines

Thinking Machines, the AI lab established early last year by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is currently in discussions to secure $1 billion in funding at a valuation of at least $40 billion, as reported Thursday by The Information. According to both The Information and an independent source, existing backer Accel is in negotiations to lead the investment.

If finalized, this new round would value the enterprise below the $50 billion target Thinking Machines reportedly sought late last year.

A source familiar with the company's financials indicates that Thinking Machines' annual revenue run rate currently exceeds $100 million. Relative to that revenue figure, a $40 billion valuation represents an exceptionally high multiple.

Neither Accel nor Thinking Machines immediately responded to requests for comment.

In July, the organization launched Inkling, an open-weight model that generates revenue via usage-based compute fees for adapting models on proprietary data using its Tinker platform.

The startup’s previous financing—a $2 billion deal ranking among the largest seed rounds in history—valued the firm at $12 billion. That investment was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Nvidia, GV, Lightspeed, and Conviction Partners. Backers committed to the round primarily based on the pedigree of Murati and the former OpenAI researchers who joined her team.

Since then, Thinking Machines has experienced several high-profile departures, with co-founders including Lilian Weng and Luke Metz returning to OpenAI.