[Former OpenAI CTO's Thinking Machines in Talks to Raise $1 Billion at a $40 Billion Valuation] According to TechCrunch, Thinking Machines, an AI lab founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is in discussions to raise $1 billion at a valuation of at least $40 billion, with existing investor Accel leading the round. The company was established early last year and launched the open-source weight model Inkling in July, charging for compute usage through the Tinker platform, with annualized revenue exceeding $100 million. Previously, Thinking Machines completed a $2 billion funding round at a $12 billion valuation, led by a16z, with participation from Nvidia, GV, and others. Since then, several co-founders, including Lilian Weng and Luke Metz, have returned to OpenAI. If this round is completed, the valuation will be lower than the rumored $50 billion target at the end of last year.