Thinking Machines Lab Seeks $1B at $40B
Thinking Machines Lab Seeks $1B at $40B
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Key Points
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AMD participated in Thinking Machines' seed round, alongside Nvidia and Andreessen Horowitz, with an additional investment from the Albanian government.
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Inkling is a multimodal foundation model with 975 billion parameters, and the company has outlined a product timeline that includes Tinker (fine-tuning API) launching in October 2025 and Inkling debuting on July 15, 2026.
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Nvidia’s multi-year compute partnership with Thinking Machines provides access to at least one gigawatt of compute capacity.
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Thinking Machines’ July 2025 seed round raised about $2 billion, one of the largest seed financings, with backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD, plus government involvement from Albania.
Thinking Machines Lab, led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is raising at least $1 billion at a $40 billion valuation, according to The Information. Existing investor Accel is considering leading the round, with Nvidia also in talks to participate. The funding would support scaling of the company's Inkling multimodal foundation model and compute infrastructure.
From $50B Ambitions to $40B Reset
Thinking Machines' valuation has swung sharply over recent months. The company previously pushed toward a $50 billion valuation but has now reset expectations to the mid-$40s billion range. The Information reports the talks represent a recalibration as the independent AI lab navigates intense competition and massive deployment costs for frontier models.
Massive Seed Round Set Foundation
Thinking Machines raised roughly $2 billion in its July 2025 seed round, one of the largest seed financings on record. Backers included Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD, plus investment from the Albanian government. This firepower gave the startup significant runway to develop Inkling, its 975-billion-parameter multimodal model.
Nvidia Partnership Delivers Massive Compute
A multi-year partnership with Nvidia provides Thinking Machines access to at least one gigawatt of compute capacity for model training. The company also signed a Google Cloud infrastructure deal to support development. This compute backbone is essential for scaling Inkling and competing against larger, well-capitalized rivals.
Product Timeline Stretches Into 2026
Thinking Machines has mapped out an ambitious roadmap. The company plans to launch Tinker, a fine-tuning API, in October 2025. Inkling itself is slated to debut on July 15, 2026. These milestones will test whether the startup can execute at the scale its valuation implies amid fierce AI model competition.
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