TL;DR
Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is losing multiple early staffers back to OpenAI, including co-founder Barret Zoph. OpenAI’s applications chief said Zoph, Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz are rejoining OpenAI; Murati named Soumith Chintala as Thinking Machines’ new CTO.
What happened
Mira Murati, who left OpenAI in September 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines Lab, announced that co-founder and CTO Barret Zoph has parted ways with the startup and that Soumith Chintala will take over as CTO. Murati’s post did not mention co-founder Luke Metz. Shortly after, OpenAI applications CEO Fidji Simo posted that Barret Zoph, Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz are headed back to OpenAI, adding that the personnel moves had been in the works for several weeks, according to an OpenAI executive. Zoph is a former OpenAI VP of research and spent six years at Google; Metz and Schoenholz previously worked on OpenAI’s technical staff. LinkedIn still lists Schoenholz at Thinking Machines. Thinking Machines raised a $2 billion seed round last July—led by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by Accel, Nvidia, AMD and Jane Street—at a reported $12 billion valuation. TechCrunch contacted both companies for comment.
Why it matters
- Losing multiple co-founders, including an outgoing CTO, is an unusual shake-up for a startup less than a year old and could affect leadership continuity.
- The moves illustrate rapid personnel mobility between leading AI labs, underscoring fierce competition for experienced talent.
- Thinking Machines has substantial early funding; departures of senior technical staff may prompt investor and market scrutiny of execution risk.
- Reassigning the CTO role to an established researcher signals a quick leadership restructuring aimed at stabilizing the company.
Key facts
- Mira Murati founded Thinking Machines Lab after leaving her role as OpenAI CTO in September 2024.
- Barret Zoph, a Thinking Machines co-founder and former OpenAI VP of research, has parted ways with the startup.
- Soumith Chintala was named CTO of Thinking Machines by Murati following Zoph’s departure.
- OpenAI’s Fidji Simo announced that Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz are returning to OpenAI.
- An OpenAI executive said the personnel changes had been in the works for several weeks.
- Thinking Machines closed a $2 billion seed round in July, led by Andreessen Horowitz; the round reportedly valued the startup at $12 billion.
- Andrew Tulloch, another Thinking Machines co-founder, left earlier to join Meta in October.
- Sam Schoenholz’s LinkedIn profile still lists him as working for Thinking Machines at the time of reporting.
- TechCrunch reached out to both Thinking Machines and OpenAI for comment.
What to watch next
- Whether Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz complete their transitions back to OpenAI or retain roles at Thinking Machines: not confirmed in the source.
- How Thinking Machines’ product roadmap and engineering organization adapt under Soumith Chintala’s leadership.
- Any investor or board response to the departures and how that affects hiring and talent retention at the startup: not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- CTO: Chief Technology Officer; the executive responsible for a company’s technological strategy and engineering teams.
- Seed round: An early stage of financing that provides initial capital to help a startup develop its product and grow operations.
- Valuation: An estimate of a company’s worth, often derived from investment rounds and used to set share prices.
- Co-founder: An individual who helps establish a company and typically holds an ownership stake and leadership role.
- OpenAI: A research organization and company focused on developing artificial intelligence technologies.
Reader FAQ
Who has left Thinking Machines?
Barret Zoph has parted ways; OpenAI said Zoph, Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz are headed back to OpenAI.
Is Thinking Machines appointing a new CTO?
Yes. Mira Murati announced Soumith Chintala as the new CTO.
Why did the co-founders leave?
Not confirmed in the source.
Is Thinking Machines still funded?
The company closed a $2 billion seed round in July, which reportedly valued it at $12 billion.
Former OpenAI exec Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is saying goodbye to two of its co-founders, both of whom are headed back to OpenAI. Another former OpenAI staffer who…
Sources
- Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is losing two of its co-founders to OpenAI
- Three ex-OpenAI employees returned to the company after …
- After Scale's Alexandr Wang, co-founder of Mira Murati's AI …
- Thinking Machines Lab Co-Founder Departs for Meta
Related posts
- Furiosa NXT RNGD Server: Energy-efficient AI inference for data centers
- Two Thinking Machines Lab Co‑founders Depart to Return to OpenAI
- SparkFun severs reseller tie with Adafruit amid harassment dispute