{"version":1,"type":"story","url":"https://digestai.news/story/thinking-machines-lab-is-raising-5b-led-by-accel-at-a-40b-valuation-so","json":"https://digestai.news/story/thinking-machines-lab-is-raising-5b-led-by-accel-at-a-40b-valuation-so.json","markdown":"https://digestai.news/story/thinking-machines-lab-is-raising-5b-led-by-accel-at-a-40b-valuation-so.md","slug":"thinking-machines-lab-is-raising-5b-led-by-accel-at-a-40b-valuation-so","headline":"Thinking Machines Lab is raising $5B led by Accel at a $40B valuation, sources say","summary":"Thinking Machines Lab is close to finalizing a $5 billion funding round led by Accel at a $40 billion pre-money valuation, according to multiple unnamed sources familiar with the deal. The investment could close as early as this week. A representative for the startup declined to comment, while Accel did not respond to inquiries.\n\nThe deal would more than triple the startup's previous valuation of over $10 billion, following a $2 billion seed round raised last year prior to launching a product. Founded by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, the company previously sought funding at a $50 billion valuation last year before talks broke off.\n\nThe startup recently updated its model fine-tuning tool, Tinker, reporting performance gains in AI coding. However, Thinking Machines has faced talent departures amid competition from firms like Meta and OpenAI. Roughly one-third of its founding team has left, including Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Andrew Tulloch.","keyPoints":["Thinking Machines Lab is reportedly raising $5 billion at a $40 billion pre-money valuation led by Accel.","The round would triple its previous valuation of more than $10 billion, following a $2 billion seed round last year.","About a third of the founding team has departed for rivals like OpenAI and Meta, including Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Andrew Tulloch."],"whyItMatters":"The $5 billion deal demonstrates sustained investor appetite for frontier AI labs at multi-billion-dollar valuations, even amid intense executive departures and compensation battles across the sector.","category":{"slug":"business","name":"Business & Funding","url":"https://digestai.news/category/business"},"entities":{"companies":["Thinking Machines Lab","Accel","OpenAI","Meta","Business Insider","The Information"],"models":["ChatGPT","Tinker"],"people":["Mira Murati","Neal Wu","Barret Zoph","Luke Metz","Andrew Tulloch"]},"firstPublishedAt":"2026-11-06T01:15:02Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-06T01:15:02Z","sourceCount":1,"hasPrimarySource":false,"sources":[{"outlet":"businessinsider.com","title":"Sources: Thinking Machines Lab is raising $5B led by Accel at a $40B pre-money valuation, more than tripling its valuation from its last public round last year","url":"https://businessinsider.com/thinking-machines-lab-is-closing-5-billion-new-round-2026-11","publishedAt":"2026-11-06T01:15:02Z","type":"press","primary":false,"lead":true}],"sourceNotes":null,"discussions":[],"thread":{"title":"Frontier AI Labs Chase Record Valuations","url":"https://digestai.news/thread/cognition-weighs-new-funding-round-at-70b-80b-valuation","storyCount":2},"cite":{"text":"Digest AI, \"Thinking Machines Lab is raising $5B led by Accel at a $40B valuation, sources say\", 6 November 2026, https://digestai.news/story/thinking-machines-lab-is-raising-5b-led-by-accel-at-a-40b-valuation-so","publisher":"Digest AI","title":"Thinking Machines Lab is raising $5B led by Accel at a $40B valuation, sources say","datePublished":"2026-11-06T01:15:02Z","url":"https://digestai.news/story/thinking-machines-lab-is-raising-5b-led-by-accel-at-a-40b-valuation-so"},"generatedBy":"Written by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources; the sources are the record.","license":"Headlines, digests and key points are written by Digest AI and may be quoted with a link to the story page. Linked articles belong to their publishers. Terms: https://digestai.news/terms#reuse"}