Mira Murati’s New AI Startup Is Reportedly Set to Raise $100 Million. The Big Question: Why?

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati has emerged as a key figure in the AI world. The executive left the company a few weeks ago, and while her next move was initially unclear, it looks like she’s reportedly launching her own AI startup—and it’s going to be big.

Seeking funding. According to Reuters, Murati is allegedly organizing a funding round to raise $100 million. Details on potential investors or the stakes involved have yet to surface, but the ability to secure that level of funding highlights the scale of this sector. It’s also unknown whether Murati will serve as CEO of the new company or take on a different role.

Proprietary AI models. Initial reports about Murati’s plans suggest her company will supposedly focus on developing proprietary AI models, similar to the approach taken by OpenAI and Google. It doesn’t appear she will pursue a more open-source philosophy.

A competitive and heavily-funded field. Although Murati’s funding goal is substantial, investments in the AI field are even bigger. OpenAI recently raised an astounding $6.6 billion, and other new startups are also attracting major investments. For example, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who aims to develop an individual general artificial intelligence, raised $1 billion in September. Similarly, French startup Mistral secured $640 million in June.

Another example is Perplexity AI. Perplexity AI is preparing a $500 million investment round, which would value the company at $8 billion and position it as another market leader. The round is expected to include Spain’s Telefónica, which recently announced a partnership with the startup.

How does it stand out? The big question is how Murati’s startup will differentiate itself in a crowded and increasingly saturated market. Many startups have carved out niches in specific segments and gained investor interest. Suno did this in the music industry, closing a $125 million round in June, while Magic focused on programming and raised $320 million in August.

The big players have the upper hand. The challenge for these startups is their reliance on the infrastructure of Big Tech. These giants possess massive data centers and thousands of GPUs that both large and small companies use to train their AI models. Today, the balance of power is skewed, and developing these models is so expensive that only a few can sustain the effort over time. Even OpenAI, the industry reference, may face difficulties because it spends significantly more than it earns and will continue to do so until at least 2029.

Is centralization in sight? The current landscape reflects numerous efforts, colossal global investments, and a highly diversified segment with many competitors pursuing essentially the same objectives. Except for a few specialized startups, the future for many may follow a familiar path in Silicon Valley: the “exit,” or selling the company to one of the Big Tech firms. This trend was exemplified by Microsoft’s acquisition of Inflection, which also let it secure DeepMind co-founder and director Mustafa Suleyman.

Image | Mira Murati edited by Xataka On

Related | Trouble in Partnership Paradise: Microsoft and OpenAI Are Starting to Get Tired of One Another