The breakdown inside the Thinking Machines

By EngineAI Team | Published on January 26, 2026
The breakdown inside the Thinking Machines
The NYT and The Information have revealed new information behind last week's breakup at Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab, including a heated meeting, private conversations with Sam Altman, and an unsuccessful purchase deal with Meta.

The specifics:

Days before Murati was fired, CTO Barrett Zoph and two other co-founders allegedly confronted him and demanded that he take charge of technical choices.

Later that week, Murati allegedly dismissed Zoph after telling him to "just do his job" as CTO. Nine other TML workers also reportedly left for OAI or received offers.

For months, Zoph was allegedly talking to Altman behind Murati's back about the co-founders' dissatisfaction with TML's course and their desire to sell the company to Meta.

As part of a reorganization to assist bridge the gap between research and product teams, Zoph will now oversee OAI's corporate AI sales efforts.

What began as a disorganized exit now appears to be more of a power struggle that had been simmering for some months. The fissures were already visible, and OAI and Altman were prepared to deal with the repercussions as TML struggled to fund at its $50 billion goal value and co-founders pushed for a sale Murati didn't want.

Your one-stop shop for automation insights and news on artificial intelligence is EngineAi.
Did you like this article? Check out more of our knowledgeable resources:
📰 In-depth analysis and up-to-date AI news .
🤝 Visit to learn about our goal and knowledgeable staff.
📬 Use this link to share your project or schedule a free consultation.
Watch this space for weekly updates on digital transformation, process automation, and machine learning. Let us assist you in bringing the future into your company right now.

🔗 External Resource:
Visit Link →