❯ Thinking Machines seeks $5 billion in funding with Accel expected to lead

A proposed $40 billion pre-money valuationMira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab is negotiating roughly $5 billion in funding at a $40 billion pre-money valuation, with Accel expected to lead, Business Insider reported. The transaction remains in progress and has not closed. The company raised a $2 billion seed round at a $12 billion valuation in July 2025.

Selling model customization to businessesIts Tinker platform lets businesses train and adapt models using their own data. Thinking Machines supplies computing and training infrastructure and charges for usage. Customers can turn specialist judgments and business examples into training data without managing complex distributed-training systems themselves.

A new model is available on TinkerThe company launched Inkling 2 Small on November 5, with 594 billion total parameters, 17 billion active parameters and image support. Inference and fine-tuning are available on Tinker. The company plans to release weights under Apache 2.0 next week after external safety testing. Specific uses for the proposed financing have not been announced.

▮ SIGNALCombining its own models with a metered training platform lets Thinking Machines sell both model access and customization, with business adoption shaping its revenue opportunity.