Mira Murati is one of the most well-known entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

The former chief technology officer from OpenAI, who left to launch her own AI startup last year, just celebrated a major milestone: her company, Thinking Machines Lab, launched its first product this week, called Tinker.

Rather than being another generative AI chatbot like ChatGPT, Tinker is designed to help researchers and developers refine AI models without having to manage massive computing infrastructure.

The launch represents the first commercial product from Thinking Machines, which raised a record $2 billion in seed funding at a $12 billion valuation.

Murati, the 36-year-old Albanian engineer-turned-executive director, has emerged as a defining figure in the Artificial Intelligence boom.

Her journey from a mechanical engineering student to the chief technology officer who helped create ChatGPT illustrates the rapid transformation of both Artificial Intelligence technology and the careers of those who built it.

More recently, her ability to resist Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive recruitment efforts — including reported billion-dollar offers to buy her company and acquire her talent — has solidified her reputation as a leader willing to chart course in an industry dominated by tech giants.

From Albania to the world stage

Born on December 16, 1988, in Vlora, Albania, during the final years of the country's totalitarian regime, Murat's early life was affected by political turmoil and economic uncertainty.

Her parents, both high school literature teachers, encouraged her in her academic pursuits, but Murati told Microsoft's chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, in 2023 that she had an "organic interest in math and science," where she excelled in olympiads and competitions throughout her schooling.

At the age of 16, Murati won a scholarship from United World Colleges—a program that brings together students from over 80 countries to promote intercultural understanding and social responsibility—to study at Pearson College on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

But after graduating from Pearson in 2005, Murati followed an unusual academic path that would prove predictive of her later career.

She enrolled in a dual degree program, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Colby College in 2011 and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering in 2012.

This combination of liberal arts and engineering disciplines gave her both analytical thinking skills and technical expertise, which would be useful in her later roles in Silicon Valley.

Murat's professional journey began with a summer internship as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo in 2011, followed by a short stint as an Advanced Concepts Engineer at Zodiac Aerospace from 2012 to 2013.

She joined Tesla that same year as a senior product manager for the Model X program, contributing to the development of Tesla's SUV project.

In 2016, she joined Leap Motion, an augmented reality startup, as vice president of product and engineering.

During her two-year tenure, she focused on advancing human-computer interaction technology, helping shape the company's product offerings and go-to-market strategy.

This role positioned her perfectly for the next phase of her career in the development of Artificial Intelligence.

Years at OpenAI

Murati joined OpenAI in June 2018 as vice president of Applied Artificial Intelligence and Partnerships, during a crucial period for the organization, they write. foreign media.

She quickly rose through the ranks, becoming senior vice president of research, product and partnerships in 2020, before being promoted to chief technology officer in 2022.

As Chief Technology Officer, Murati oversaw the development of some of the most transformative Artificial Intelligence technologies of the modern era.

She led the teams working on ChatGPT, DALL-E, Codex, and Sora - products that fundamentally changed the way the public interacts with Artificial Intelligence.

Her leadership played a significant role in transforming OpenAI from a research organization into one of the most important Artificial Intelligence companies in the world.

In November 2023, Murati briefly found herself at the center of Silicon Valley drama when she was named interim CEO following the unexpected dismissal of Sam Altman from OpenAI's board.

Although her term lasted only three days before she was replaced by Emmett Shear, who then left when Altman returned to office, this ended up being the first time many people heard the name "Mira Murati."

Recognition and controversy

Murat's influence is now known throughout the technology industry.

She was ranked 57th on Fortune's list of "The 100 Most Powerful Women in Business of 2023" and was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2024.

In June 2024, Dartmouth College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Science degree, recognizing her contributions to Artificial Intelligence, technology, and engineering.

However, Murat's stay at OpenAI was not without controversy.

In a speech at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering, Murati made comments about Al's influence on creative workplaces that sparked strong reactions.

"Some jobs will probably disappear, but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place," she said.

Critics, including from Dartmouth's own student body, accused it of not paying attention to the concerns of artists and writers whose livelihoods are threatened by AI automation.

Despite the controversy, Murat has consistently supported responsible AI development and government regulation.

In a 2023 interview with Time magazine, she said: “It’s important that OpenAI and companies like ours bring this to the public consciousness in a controlled and responsible way. But we are a small group of people and we need a lot more input into this system and a lot more input that goes beyond the technologies — obviously regulators and governments and everyone else.”

Thinking Machines Lab

In September 2024, Murati announced her departure from OpenAI to pursue her "personal exploration," publishing the note she shared with her colleagues at X.

"There is never an ideal time to leave a place you cherish, yet this moment feels right. Our latest technology releases mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence - achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship," she said.

“I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this incredible team.”

Months later, in February of this year, Murati officially launched Thinking Machines Lab, a public benefit corporation focused on developing Artificial Intelligence systems that are more accessible, customizable, and human-friendly.

The startup built an impressive talent roster, recruiting nearly 30 researchers and engineers from leading AI companies, including its former colleagues from OpenAI, as well as experts from Google, Meta, Mistral, and Character AI.

The team's collective expertise and Murat's track record enabled the company to raise $2 billion in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Nvidia, AMD, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, and Jane Street, giving the startup a $12 billion valuation.

Silicon Valley

The true test of Murat's leadership came when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched what The Wall Street Journal called a "full-scale raid" on her startup.

Zuckerberg reportedly approached more than a dozen employees at the 50-person company, offering packages ranging from $200 million to $1.5 billion over several years.

One researcher reportedly received an offer worth over $1 billion, while others were promised profits of between $50 million and $100 million in their first year alone.

The aggressive recruitment campaign targeted key figures, including Andrew Tulloch, Murat's co-founder and a machine learning expert who had previously worked at Meta for more than a decade.

But despite the astronomical offers, not a single employee accepted Meta's proposals - a remarkable show of loyalty in an industry where talent often moves for financial incentives.

This resistance speaks both to Murat's leadership and to the team's belief in Thinking Machines Lab's mission.

As she said when announcing the company's funding: "We believe that Al should serve as an extension of individual agency and, in the spirit of freedom, be distributed as widely and equally as possible."

Murat's present and AI's future

With the launch of Tinker, Thinking Machines Lab is betting that the next frontier in AI lies not in building ever-larger models, but in democratizing access to advanced capabilities.

The platform currently allows users to customize Meta's Llama and Alibaba's Qwen models using just a few lines of code, tackling the complexity of distributed training that typically requires specialized expertise and significant computing resources.

“We believe that Tinker will help empower researchers and developers to experiment with models and make advanced skills much more accessible to all people,” said Murati.

The company plans to publish other scientific findings to help the broader research community understand advanced AI systems.

As the Artificial Intelligence industry continues to evolve at a dizzying pace, Murat's approach offers a compelling alternative to the "winner takes all" dynamic.

It remains to be seen whether Thinking Machines Lab can maintain this independence while expanding its technology and impact, but Murat's story suggests that it is building something designed to last.

Last June, Murati discussed a wide range of topics at Fortune's Most Powerful Women dinner in San Francisco, including her partnership with Apple, concerns about security and privacy, how she found her love for Artificial Intelligence, and more. /Telegraph/

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