Report: Accel in talks to lead $1B round for Thinking Machines at $40B

In short: Thinking Machines is reportedly in talks to raise $1 billion, led by Accel, at a valuation of at least $40 billion.

What happened

Thinking Machines is an AI company founded in early 2025 by Mira Murati, who previously led technology work at OpenAI. According to The Information, the company is discussing a new funding round that could bring in $1 billion. Venture firm Accel, which already backs the company, is reportedly in talks to lead the round.

A valuation is the price investors put on a company, like a home appraisal but for a business. The report says the valuation would be at least $40 billion. That would be below the $50 billion valuation the company reportedly aimed for late last year.

TechCrunch reports that Thinking Machines has an annual revenue run rate of more than $100 million. That means if the company kept earning money at the same pace, it would bring in over $100 million across a year, like a projection based on recent months.

The company introduced a product called Inkling in July. It is an “open-weight” AI model, meaning the company shares key parts of how the model works so others can adapt it. Thinking Machines charges fees for the computing power needed to customize models on its Tinker platform.

Accel and Thinking Machines did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

Why it matters

This is another sign that big investors are still willing to put very large sums into AI companies, even when the price tag is far higher than current revenue. For regular people, these deals can shape which AI tools get built and how quickly they show up in products and services.

Source: TechCrunch AI