Physix Frontier badgePhysix Frontier
PublishChinese | EN

Physix Frontier · News Briefing Card (IT Home · Nov 6, 2026)

Thinking Machines Lab in talks to raise $5B at $40B pre-money valuation

KEY FACTS

  • Thinking Machines Lab, founded by Mira Murati, is in talks to raise $5 billion.
  • The round carries a pre-money valuation of $40 billion.
  • The company previously closed a $2 billion seed round at a valuation above $10 billion.
  • It had planned to raise at a $50 billion valuation, but those negotiations fell through.
  • The company also released its second-generation model, Inkling 2 Small, the same day, with open weights under Apache 2.0 next week.

KEY DATA

$40 billionPre-money valuation of this round
$5 billionPlanned raise for this round
Above $10 billionSeed round valuation
$2 billionSeed round raise

PHYSIX OBSERVATION

The valuation sliding from an expected $50 billion to $40 billion shows capital no longer writes unconditional checks even for star teams. Open weights plus a large MoE model are its differentiation chips, but whether the fundraising pace matches model deployment is the real test of this new company's quality.

Source: IT Home report