Spending 1 billion USD to buy a company that was just established 6 months ago
In an effort to lead the AI race, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is actively recruiting top talent to build a team to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI).
However, not all offers are accepted, typically the case of "AI female general" Mira Murati.
Last June, Meta made headlines when it spent $15 billion to acquire a 49% stake in ScaleAI, with the goal of bringing founder Alexandr Wang under Zuckerberg's wing.
Although born in 1997, Wang was the world's youngest self-made billionaire in 2021 and is considered a rare talent in the field of AI.
Following this deal, Zuckerberg continued to spend $1 billion to propose acquiring Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup founded in February this year.
It is worth mentioning that this company is only 6 months old, does not have any real products, but is highly valued by Meta.
Mira Murati turned down Mark Zuckerberg's $1 billion offer to continue developing the company on her own terms (Photo: WSJ).
The reason behind this "huge" price is Mira Murati, founder of Thinking Machines Lab. Murati, known as the "female general of AI", is Zuckerberg's main target.
However, according to Wired magazine, Murati and her entire staff turned down the $1 billion offer, insisting that Thinking Machines Lab was not for sale.
The source also revealed that Meta offered a salary of between $200 million and $1 billion over many years to recruit Murati and her team, but was still rejected.
Thinking Machines Lab is one of the hottest AI startups right now, having raised $1 billion in funding before launching a product. Mira Murati’s reputation is seen as a guarantee of the company’s success.
Who is "AI General" Mira Murati?
Born in Albania in 1988, Mira Murati had an impressive educational journey in Canada and the US, graduating with degrees in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering. Her career began at Zodiac Aerospace, then Elon Musk’s Tesla (2013-2016), where she participated in the development of self-driving technology, marking her first steps in the field of AI.
From 2016 to 2018, Murati served as Vice President of Product Development and Engineering at Leap Motion, a company specializing in motion sensors for VR/AR.
In 2018, Murati joined OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and from there her name really rose to prominence.
She has held important positions such as Vice President of Applications and Partnerships, Vice President of Product Research, and Chief Technology Officer since 2022, responsible for developing popular AI projects such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, Sora.
Mira Murati is considered one of the most powerful women in the AI development community today (Photo: Getty).
In November 2023, Murati took over as interim CEO of OpenAI after Sam Altman was fired, before Altman returned and she resumed her role as CTO.
In September 2024, Mira Murati left OpenAI to pursue personal projects, and in February she officially founded Thinking Machines Lab, which focuses on developing custom, high-performance AI systems. The company's first product is expected to launch later this year.
Murati is highly regarded for her long-term vision in the field of AI and her leadership. She believes in the concept of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), where AI can learn on its own, think like a human, and perform multiple tasks at the same time.
In October 2023, Mira Murati was named by Fortune magazine as one of the "100 Most Powerful Women in Business." In September 2024, she was also named by Time magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in AI."
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also repeatedly praised Murati's contributions, affirming that she is the one who made great contributions to making OpenAI a global AI force.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/nu-tuong-ai-tu-choi-de-nghi-tri-gia-1-ty-usd-cua-mark-zuckerberg-la-ai-20250804001823771.htm
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