Former OpenAI director launches AI startup

Former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati launched an AI startup called Thinking Machines Lab yesterday (February 18), with about 30 top researchers and engineers joining from competitors including OpenAI, Meta, and Mistral.

The latest entrant in the bustling AI startup space wants to build artificial intelligence systems that encode human values ​​and have a broader range of applications than its rivals, a move that underscores the ability of Ms. Murati, a longtime executive at OpenAI, to poach top researchers from her former company.

Mira Murati launches new AI startup, with top experts from her former companies OpenAI, Meta, and Mistra.

About two-thirds of the company is made up of former OpenAI employees — including Barret Zoph, a prominent researcher who left ChatGPT maker Murati on the same day as him at the end of September 2024. Zoph will serve as chief technology officer of the new AI startup.

OpenAI co-founder John Schulman is chief scientist at the startup Thinking Machines Lab. Schulman left OpenAI for rival Anthropic in August 2024, saying he wanted to “focus on connecting AI.”

AI alignment refers to the process of encoding human values ​​into AI models to make them safer and more trustworthy — the primary focus of Murati's startup.

Several OpenAI employees are expected to join Thinking Machines Lab, which has been in talks to raise venture capital from investors, Reuters sources said.

Murati, who will be CEO of Thinking Machines Lab, joins a growing list of former OpenAI executives who have launched AI startups. Two others, Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence, have both attracted former OpenAI researchers and raised billions of dollars in funding.

Thinking Machines Lab says its approach differs from competitors because it is co-designed by the research and product teams, and will contribute to AI suitability research by sharing code, datasets, and model parameters.

"While current AI models excel at programming and mathematics, we are building AI that can adapt to the entire spectrum of human expertise and enable a more expansive range of applications," said a representative of Thinking Machines Lab.

Ms. Murati joined OpenAI in June 2018, leading the development of the ChatGPT chatbot and regularly appearing alongside CEO Sam Altman as the public face of the company.

Murati’s abrupt resignation is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from OpenAI in recent years as the company undergoes governance changes. Late last year, CEO Altman announced plans to transition the company to a for-profit operation, a departure from its original purpose – prompting co-founder Elon Musk to sue the former company.

Before OpenAI, Ms. Murati worked at augmented reality startup Leap Motion and spent time at Mr. Musk's car company Tesla.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/cuu-giam-doc-openai-ra-mat-cong-ty-khoi-nghiep-ai-192250219144353847.htm