San Francisco — Mira Murati, former chief technology officer at OpenAI, is raising funds from venture capitalists for her new artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The new company aims to build AI products based on proprietary models, said one of the sources who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. It is not clear if Murati will assume the CEO role at the new venture.
A representative for Murati declined to comment.
While the talks are in the early stages, Murati’s new venture could raise more than $100m given her reputation and the capital needed to train proprietary models, one of the sources said, cautioning that the figures have not been finalised.
Barret Zoph, a prominent researcher who left OpenAI on the same day as Murati in late September, could also get involved in the new venture, the sources added. Zoph did not respond to requests for comment.
The Information publication previously reported that Zoph is planning a new start-up and that Murati has been recruiting OpenAI employees to join her new venture.
Murati at OpenAI spent more than six years spearheading transformative projects such as ChatGPT and DALL-E. She was a key figure in OpenAI’s multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft, its largest financial backer.
Murati's meteoric rise at OpenAI has cemented her name as one of the most prominent executives in the fledgling field of artificial intelligence.
Murati joined OpenAI in June 2018 and was promoted to chief technology officer in May 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before OpenAI, she worked at augmented reality start-up Leap Motion and Tesla .
She frequently appeared alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as the public face of the ChatGPT maker. When OpenAI in May launched its GPT-4o model, which is capable of having realistic voice conversations, Murati led the presentation.
Her abrupt resignation in late September marked the latest high-profile exit from the ChatGPT maker as the company undergoes major governance structure changes, including removing the control of the nonprofit board. Murati, who briefly served as interim CEO last year when Altman was ousted by the nonprofit board, cited a desire for personal exploration for her departure.
Murati joins a growing list of former OpenAI executives launching start-ups, including rivals such as Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence.
Reuters
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