Thinking Machines Lab, led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, just raised a massive $2 billion seed round—without even saying what it’s building. This tops one of the largest seed funding rounds ever and shocks Silicon Valley.
The startup is still tight-lipped about its product or mission. The big raise highlights a trend: top AI talent splitting from OpenAI to chase their own projects.
On TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Rebecca Bellan, and Anthony Ha break down what’s driving the OpenAI talent shuffle and why investors are pouring cash into early bets like this. 
Seed rounds are clearly evolving, going way bigger and earlier than before.
Hear the full discussion, plus more news from the week, on Equity.
Equity drops Wednesdays and Fridays, produced by Theresa Loconsolo.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or Spotify. Follow on X and Threads @EquityPod.
