She Rejected Meta’s $1 billion offer: Meet Mira Murati, the mastermind behind ChatGPT

Mira Murati, the Albanian-American tech visionary who helped bring artificial intelligence into the global mainstream, is once again making headlines—this time for rejecting a jaw-dropping $1 billion offer from Meta. As the former Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI and now founder of the AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, Murati is not only reshaping the future of technology but also defining it on her own terms. Meta’s lucrative bid to poach her team for its new Superintelligence Lab was unanimously declined, in a bold show of loyalty that reflects the confidence Murati inspires and the missio

Mira Murati, the Albanian-American tech visionary who helped bring artificial intelligence into the global mainstream, is once again making headlines—this time for rejecting a jaw-dropping $1 billion offer from Meta. As the former Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI and now founder of the AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, Murati is not only reshaping the future of technology but also defining it on her own terms. Meta’s lucrative bid to poach her team for its new Superintelligence Lab was unanimously declined, in a bold show of loyalty that reflects the confidence Murati inspires and the mission her company upholds. Who is this prominent AI mastermind?

Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, in a television interview.
Philip Pacheco (Bloomberg) via El Pais

The beginning

Murati’s journey began far from Silicon Valley—in Vlorë, Albania, where she was born on December 16, 1988. At 16, she earned a scholarship to attend Pearson College in British Columbia, Canada, through the United World Colleges (UWC) program, graduating in 2005. Her academic path continued in the U.S. with a dual-degree program that saw her earn a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College in 2011 and a Bachelor of Engineering from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering in 2012.

Murati at OpenAI

Her early career included an internship at Zodiac Aerospace before she joined Tesla in 2013 as a product manager for the Model X. From 2016 to 2018, she worked at Leap Motion (now Ultraleap), an augmented reality startup. That same year, Murati joined OpenAI as Vice President of Applied AI and Partnerships, later becoming Chief Technology Officer in May 2022. At OpenAI, Murati played a pivotal role in some of the most transformative AI projects in recent history, including ChatGPT, DALL·E, Codex, and Sora. As CTO, she not only oversaw technological innovation but also steered the company’s research, product, and safety teams. She advocated for ethical AI, repeatedly warning about the societal risks associated with unchecked development. Speaking candidly about concerns over automation, she once remarked that "maybe [the jobs] shouldn’t have been there in the first place." In November 2023, Murati briefly assumed the role of interim CEO at OpenAI following the removal of Sam Altman, only to return to her CTO post days later after Altman's reinstatement. Less than a year later, in September 2024, she stepped down from her role to "do my own exploration," citing her desire to pursue a new direction while expressing gratitude for OpenAI’s achievements, particularly in speech-to-speech tech and efforts to build "robust, aligned, and steerable" AI models.

Mira Murati (right), then chief technology officer of OpenAI, with Sam Altman, then CEO, in Laguna Beach, California, on 17 October 2023. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian

Thinking Machines Lab; Murati's AI Revolution

In February 2025, Murati launched Thinking Machines Lab, a public benefit corporation with the mission to make AI systems “more widely understood, customizable, and generally capable.” The startup drew elite talent from tech giants including Meta, Mistral, and OpenAI. Notably, it attracted OpenAI cofounder John Schulman and advisors like Alec Radford and Bob McGrew. Just a month later, Bloomberg reported the company had reached a $9 billion valuation, with Murati’s own stake valued at $1.4 billion. Thinking Machines Lab raised one of the largest seed rounds in tech history, securing $2 billion by July 2025. Backers included Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD, Jane Street Capital, and even the government of Albania. Murati also retained weighted voting power on the board, giving her majority control over strategic decisions, further underscoring the independence she values.

$1 billion offer rejection; the firm confidence test

That independence was put to the test when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly offered massive compensation packages [some as high as $1 billion]to lure her team away. Every offer was rejected. According to Wired, Murati’s team believes their equity in Thinking Machines Lab has far greater long-term value and, more crucially, they’re committed to her leadership and vision. Their refusal also signals a cultural shift in Silicon Valley, where purpose and innovation now compete with wealth as motivating forces. “AI without values is intelligence without conscience,” Murati had declared during a keynote at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, a statement that encapsulates the ethos behind her startup. Beyond technology, Murati has emerged as a voice of influence in global AI governance. She has advised the European Commission on AI regulation and continues to shape discussions on how artificial intelligence should be governed ethically and safely. This growing policy clout marks her as not only a builder of AI, but a guardian of its future.

Mira Murati rejected $1 billion offer from Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta. (File: Times of India)

Global recognition

Her contributions haven’t gone unnoticed. In October 2023, Fortune ranked her 57th in its “100 Most Powerful Women in Business” list. Time featured her in its “100 Next” list, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praising her for assembling teams with "technical expertise, commercial acumen, and a deep appreciation for the importance of mission." In June 2024, Dartmouth College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Science degree for having “democratized technology and advanced a better, safer world for us all.” By September 2024, Time had also included her in its “100 Most Influential People in AI” list. In an industry defined by fast exits and billion-dollar deals, Mira Murati’s rejection of Meta’s offer is more than a headline, it’s a statement. She is building something bigger than a company: a movement committed to reshaping AI in the public interest. And in doing so, she has cemented her place as one of the most formidable minds guiding the future of artificial intelligence.