Mira Murati, the former OpenAI CTO who recently announced her departure, is reportedly securing venture capital funding for a new AI startup, according to Reuters.
This new venture is expected to develop AI products utilizing proprietary models, with the current funding round potentially surpassing $100 million.
In her departure announcement on X, Murati expressed pride in OpenAI’s advancements, noting that the company had “fundamentally transformed how AI systems learn and reason through complex problems.” She added that she’s stepping away to “create time and space for her own exploration,” but did not reveal further details about her future plans.
Murati joined OpenAI as VP of applied AI and partnerships in 2018, following roles at Tesla and Leap Motion. She was promoted to CTO in 2022 and even served briefly as interim CEO during co-founder Sam Altman’s brief ouster.
Murati’s departure is part of a recent wave of executive exits from OpenAI, including the chief research officer and VP of research, who left shortly after her. A week later, OpenAI announced it had raised $6.6 billion in the largest VC round ever.
