She declined a $1.5 billion offer: Meet Mira Murati, the AI whiz behind 'Tinker'

Mira Murati stands out as one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched innovators.

The fomer chief technology officer (CTO) at OpenAI left last year to create her own AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab (TML).

The company recently marked a major milestone: the launch of its first product, Tinker.

Unlike conventional generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Tinker is built to assist researchers and developers.

It's the AI for AI engineers.

Its main tasks: fine-tuning AI models.

The Tinker product launch is the startup’s first commercial offering following a record-breaking seed funding round of $2 billion, granting the company a $12 billion valuation.

With Tinker, Murati aims to empower researchers by simplifying model customisation, fine-tuning and removing the need for extensive computing infrastructure and specialised expertise.

The platform already supports leading AI models like Meta’s Llama and Alibaba’s Qwen, enabling users to tweak and deploy AI with minimal coding.

Now, Murati, 36, believes that this "democratisation" of AI will further unlock innovation. In her mind, the key making advanced AI tech more broadly accessible, is to remove the complexity of managing enormous computing resources.

Amid the rapidly-evolving AI landscape, TML's Tinker offers an alternative to dominant tech giants, focusing on openness and inclusion.

It's this philosophy behiund its AI drive that has worried well-established tech giants.

This has made Murati a target of corporate takeover.

When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg initiated an aggressive talent raid, reportedly offering packages of up to $1.5 billion to recruit researchers from her 50-person firm, Murati declined.

Despite the lucrative proposals, not a single employee defected. It's perhaps a testament to the loyalty inspired by Murati and confidence in Thinking Machines Lab’s mission.

Murati has proven her mettle: She joined OpenAI in 2018 as vice president of applied AI and partnerships and swiftly progressed to senior vice president of research, product, and partnerships by 2020.

In 2022, she was appointed CTO, overseeing landmark AI technologies such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, Codex, and Sora.

Her leadership helped OpenAI morph from a research outfit into one of the world’s most influential AI companies.

In November 2023, she briefly served as interim CEO during a tumultuous leadership transition after then-CEO Sam Altman’s sudden removal by the board.

In tech circle, Murati is recognised today as one of the key figures in the AI revolution.

Her path — from a mechanical engineering student to the CTO who helped bring ChatGPT to life — underscores the rapid evolution of AI technology and the remarkable careers shaping the field.

Notably, the Albanian-American engineer has demonstrated a strong will to chart her own course.

She has resisted aggressive recruitment attempts from industry giants, who made juicy offers to acquire her firm and lure away her team.

This resistance has further cemented her reputation as a decisive leader in the fiercely competitive AI industry.

Born in Vlorë, Albania, in 1988 during a turbulent political period, Murati grew up in a family of literature teachers who supported her academic interests.

From a young age, she excelled in math and science competitions.

At 16, Murati won a scholarship to attend Pearson College in Canada, which promotes intercultural understanding and social responsibility.

She then pursued a rare dual degree, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Colby College and a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, combining analytical and technical skills that later fueled her success in Silicon Valley.

Her early career included a summer internship at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo and a position as an advanced concepts engineer at Zodiac Aerospace. She then spent several years at Tesla as senior product manager for the Model X, contributing to the development of the company’s electric SUV.

Afterward, she joined augmented reality startup Leap Motion as vice president of product and engineering, where she helped advance human-computer interaction technologies, setting the stage for her entry into AI.

Although her tenure lasted just three days before Altman’s reinstatement, the episode highlighted Murati’s prominence within the organisation and introduced her to a broader audience.

In September 2024, Murati announced her departure from OpenAI to pursue her own vision. By February 2025, she publicly launched Thinking Machines Lab, a public benefit corporation focused on building AI systems that are more accessible, customizable, and aligned with human needs.

Her startup quickly attracted top talent from leading tech companies such as OpenAI, Google, Meta, Mistral, and Character AI.

This expertise, combined with Murati’s leadership, enabled the company to raise an unprecedented $2 billion in seed funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, AMD, and more, giving the company a $12 billion valuation.

Murati has stated that she envisions AI as a tool to extend individual agency, emphasizing the importance of distributing AI capabilities widely and equitably.

Murati has consistently championed responsible AI innovation and advocated for government regulation to ensure AI benefits society broadly.

She remains a leading voice in AI, balancing innovation with ethics and governance, as she builds a company poised to redefine the future of artificial intelligence.