Leaders at Thinking Machines Lab, co-founded by Mira Murati, confronted Barret Zoph, the startup’s former CTO, regarding an alleged romantic relationship with another employee last summer. Reports indicate that this relationship may be linked to claims of serious misconduct. The employee involved held a leadership position in a different department and has since left the lab.
Sources reveal that Murati had a conversation with Zoph about the relationship, which led to deterioration in their working relationship and prompted Zoph to explore opportunities with competitors. Before his departure, Zoph was in talks with Meta Superintelligence Labs and eventually secured a position at OpenAI. OpenAI’s applications CEO, Fidji Simo, mentioned that his hiring had been planned for weeks and dismissed concerns raised by Thinking Machines regarding Zoph’s ethics.
Neither Zoph nor OpenAI provided comments regarding the situation. Recently, Luke Metz, another cofounder of Thinking Machines, along with at least three other researchers, also left for OpenAI, following Andrew Tulloch’s earlier departure to Meta in October. Tensions between Murati and Zoph have heightened but are not solely responsible for the larger trend of employees leaving Thinking Machines.
Reports have highlighted ongoing misalignment within Thinking Machines about their project direction, with the startup seeking to raise capital at a valuation that significantly surpasses its current value of $12 billion.
