Mira Murati’s AI Startup Attracts Top Ex-OpenAI Advisors, Boosting Innovation and Expertise

Ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is making headlines with her new AI initiative, Thinking Machines Lab. Recently, the startup has welcomed two distinguished advisers, Bob McGrew and Alec Radford, both of whom have played pivotal roles in shaping the landscape of artificial intelligence.

New Additions to Thinking Machines Lab

The official website of Thinking Machines Lab was updated in March, revealing the names of its new advisers. Bob McGrew, who previously served as OpenAI’s chief research officer, and Alec Radford, a former OpenAI researcher known for his groundbreaking work, have joined the team. A spokesperson for the startup has not yet commented on this development.

Bob McGrew’s Background

Bob McGrew joined OpenAI in 2017, initially as a member of the technical staff. His career trajectory at the company saw him rise to the position of VP of Research in 2018, ultimately becoming chief research officer. In September 2024, McGrew announced his departure, citing a desire for a “break.”

Alec Radford’s Contributions

Alec Radford left OpenAI late last year after nearly a decade of significant contributions. He is well-known as the lead author of OpenAI’s influential research paper on generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs). These models are the backbone of OpenAI’s flagship products, including the widely-used AI chatbot, ChatGPT. Radford’s work also includes several iterations of the GPT series, the speech recognition model Whisper, and DALL-E, OpenAI’s image-generating technology.

Thinking Machines Lab’s Vision

While details about Thinking Machines Lab’s research agenda remain limited, the startup announced its mission in February. The goal is to develop tools that allow AI to cater to individuals’ unique needs and aspirations. The company aims to create AI systems that are “more widely understood, customizable, and generally capable” than existing options.

Mira Murati’s Leadership

Mira Murati leads Thinking Machines Lab as its CEO. She has enlisted the expertise of OpenAI co-founder John Schulman as the chief scientist and Barret Zoph, who previously directed model post-training at OpenAI, as the CTO. Murati’s tenure at OpenAI, which lasted six years, included her roles as VP of Applied AI and Partnerships and later as CTO in 2022. During her leadership, she oversaw the development of notable projects like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and the code-generating system Codex, which powered early iterations of GitHub’s Copilot programming assistant.

Funding and Talent at Thinking Machines Lab

Reports suggest that Murati was in discussions to secure over $100 million in funding from unnamed venture capital firms for Thinking Machines Lab. The startup boasts an impressive team, including numerous employees from renowned AI labs such as OpenAI and Google DeepMind.

For more insights into the latest developments in AI technology, visit our AI News page.