Mira Murati Leaves OpenAI, Launches Multimodal AI Startup Thinking Machines Lab; Find out how she got there

Born in Albania in 1988, Mira Murati grew up in a totalitarian regime. She credits this environment and her curiosity (“boredom”) for her love of experimentation and learning. At age 16, she received a scholarship to Pearson College UWC in British Columbia (Canada), where she was introduced to a global, multidisciplinary curriculum that emphasized critical thinking and collaboration. She then studied mechanical engineering at Dartmouth College and graduated around 2012. Her education included a broad exposure to liberal arts alongside a depth of technology.

Mira Murati: Early Career

After college, Murati worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in 2011, then joined Tesla, where she contributed to early Autopilot development and held product management roles. Next, she joined Leap Motion (hand-tracking hardware/software) and also held engineering roles at Zodiac Aerospace before joining AI full-time.

Advancement at OpenAI

Twenty years later, Murati is doing exactly that, shaping the world through artificial intelligence (AI). In 2018, Murati joined OpenAI, which had about 50 employees at the time. She quickly rose and became a key product/engineering lead. As chief technical officer (CTO), she led major AI projects including ChatGPT, Dell E, Whisper, Codex, etc.

She played a key role in expanding these technologies. During the 2023 leadership crisis, following the brief ouster of Sam Altman, Murati briefly served as interim CEO before Emmett Shear, then Altman’s return reinstated her as chief technical officer.

Currently, she is the founder of Thinking Machines Lab, a $12 billion AI startup that is already being considered one of the most ambitious new ventures in the technology sector. But behind that staggering resume lies a lesser-known story: a tale of carefully crafted educational choices, inspired curiosity, and a profound global perspective.

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