Mira Murati Rejected Meta’s $1 Billion Offer to Join AI Team
A former OpenAI executive declined a multi‑million‑dollar recruitment effort by Meta. Mira Murati, founder of Thinking Machines Lab (TML), and every member of her team reportedly turned down offers, including one valued at $1 billion from Meta’s attempt to build a Superintelligence Lab.
Mira Murati, a recognized technology leader credited with advancing AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL·E, refused Meta’s proposal to integrate her startup into Zuckerberg’s Superintelligence Lab. Her entire team declined, opting instead to remain independent with their own venture, Thinking Machines Lab.
Originally from Vlorë, Albania, Murati studied mathematics at Colby College and engineering at Dartmouth University. She joined OpenAI in 2018, ascending to CTO by 2022. During the leadership upheaval in late 2023, she served briefly as interim CEO before departing in September 2024 to launch her own company.
While some media reports are saying that Mira Murati is from India. It is actually a fake news picked up by Indian journalists and media outlets. She’s originally from Albania and now Albanian-American AI expert and a startup founder.
Meta reportedly offered retention packages between $200 million and $1 billion to staffers at Thinking Machines Lab over multiple years.
According to Wired, “not a single person has taken the offer.”
Murati confirmed offers reached across her team, yet all refused to join Meta’s initiative.
Meta responded via its communications director Andy Stone, stating “offers were made only to a handful of people and while there was one sizable offer the details are off”.
Thinking Machines Lab launched in February 2025. Within months, it secured $2 billion in seed capital led by major investors including Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the startup at approximately $12 billion. The team has hired top researchers from OpenAI, Meta, and other firms despite not yet releasing a product.
Murati’s startup is positioning itself as a mission-focused firm. Sources describe its aims as building ethical, public-benefit AI systems guided by rigorous oversight and interdisciplinary input from policy makers and domain experts.
Industry coverage highlighted loyalty as a deciding factor. As India.com reported, the team prioritized long‑term equity and shared goals under Murati’s leadership, viewing the Meta proposals as misaligned with their values.
Futurism pointed out the optics: in an era of aggressive talent poaching, this refusal exemplifies growing skepticism toward corporate AI projects that lack autonomy or ethical grounding.
Why This Matters?
Marcus Murati’s determination signals a shift in tech’s talent dynamics. Offers worth billions no longer guarantee acceptance. Values aligned teams are asserting influence over the future direction of AI research. Her firm’s funding success underscores that investor support follows conviction and purpose-driven goals.
By rejecting this unrejectable offer, Murati reaffirmed her belief in independent development and in building AI systems rooted in ethical frameworks, rather than yielding to corporate consolidation.
Mira Murati who’s net worth is estimated to be around $10 million and who has a great influence in the AI world, she and her team chose autonomy over significant financial enticement. Their decision as a team reflects a growing sentiment in the AI research world: credibility and collective vision can outshine even the most lavish compensation. More than a news story, their move may signal a cultural turning point for how AI innovation happens.
