One-third of Thinking Machines Lab founding team exits amid fierce AI hiring battle

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s fast-growing AI startup Thinking Machines Lab is facing intense competition in the escalating global race for elite artificial intelligence talent. Despite raising billions in funding and building one of the industry’s most respected engineering teams, the company has reportedly lost around a third of its founding team members to rival tech giants offering enormous compensation packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and stock.

According to reports, around 13 early team members, including three co-founders, have departed the company since its launch. Companies such as Meta and OpenAI aggressively targeted Thinking Machines Lab employees as competition for top AI researchers and engineers reached unprecedented levels across Silicon Valley. Meta alone reportedly hired seven founding members while continuing its broader AI hiring push across the industry.

The departures highlight how valuable experienced AI talent has become as companies compete to dominate the next generation of artificial intelligence systems. Recruiters say professionals with direct experience building advanced AI models are now among the most sought-after workers in technology, with some offers reaching levels previously associated only with elite athletes and corporate executives.

Despite the talent losses, Thinking Machines Lab continues to expand rapidly and now reportedly employs more than 150 people. The company recently announced new “interaction models” designed to process conversations in real time, allowing AI systems to function more naturally like live phone conversations instead of delayed text exchanges. Industry analysts say the company remains one of the most closely watched startups in artificial intelligence as the global AI arms race continues accelerating.