Mira Murati's AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, has lost two co-founders, Barret Zoph and Luke Metz, who are returning to their former employer, OpenAI. Another senior researcher, Sam Schoenholz, is also making the move back to OpenAI. The departures were confirmed through staggered social media posts by Murati and OpenAI's CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, who noted the transition had been planned for several weeks.
This leadership shake-up occurs less than a year after Thinking Machines Lab's launch and a significant $2 billion seed funding round that valued the company at $12 billion. Zoph, the startup's Chief Technology Officer, will be replaced by Soumith Chintala. The exit marks the second major departure of a co-founder in recent months, following Andrew Tulloch's move to Meta in October.