The competition for talent in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly fierce, especially when newly established research laboratories have to face technology giants with superior financial potential.
Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup led by former OpenAI Technology Director Mira Murati, recently became the focus of attention when it lost many key personnel to OpenAI itself.
Accordingly, OpenAI has recruited three members in the founding team of Thinking Machines Lab, including Brett Zoph (former Director of Technology), along with two researchers Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz.
This information was announced by Fidji Simo, CEO of the Applications division of OpenAI, on the X platform recently. In the new structure, Zoph will report directly to Simo, while Metz and Schoenholz will work under Zoph.
The wave of departures has not stopped there. On January 15, many sources said that at least two other researchers at Thinking Machines Lab, Lia Guy and Ian O'Connell, are also preparing to leave the company, in which Guy is said to be joining OpenAI. This development is adding a strong blow to the ambition to build an independent AI research team of this young startup.
Previously, Mira Murati had internally announced that Thinking Machines Lab terminated the contract with Brett Zoph for "unethical behavior". However, Fidji Simo affirmed that OpenAI recruiting Zoph and his colleagues was planned many weeks ago.
According to Bloomberg, Simo said OpenAI disagreed with these accusations and said that the dismissal took place after Zoph expressed his intention to leave the company.
The incident clearly reflects the severity of the current AI talent war. Although many emerging research institutes such as Thinking Machines Lab have mobilized huge capital and promised shares that could be worth billions of USD in the future, they are still disadvantaged when competing with long-standing corporations.
Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and especially Meta are said to be willing to spend huge cash incentive packages, in some cases exceeding the 100 million USD mark, to attract leading researchers.
Thinking Machines Lab once made a big splash in the technology world. After leaving OpenAI in 2024, Mira Murati founded the company with the goal of promoting AI research in an open direction.
In October 2025, this startup launched its first product named Tinker, a platform that helps developers fine-tune large language models through APIs, simplifying scattered GPU resource training and management.
With 2 billion USD of initial investment capital and a valuation of 12 billion USD, even negotiating to reach 50 billion USD, Thinking Machines Lab is expected to become a major counterweight in the industry.
However, the continuous loss of key personnel shows that the problem of retaining talent is still the biggest challenge for AI startups, even when they possess ambitions and huge capital.
