Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Raises $2B to Build AI’s Future Brain
OpenAI’s former CTO, Mira Murati, has secured a staggering $2 billion in Series A funding for her new venture, Thinking Machines Lab, now valued at $10 billion. Launched just months ago, the company aims to develop “thinking machines” — a bold step beyond today’s AI, focusing on advanced reasoning, memory, and planning abilities. Backed by top investors like Thrive Capital and Sequoia, Murati envisions a new class of AI systems that can understand, reflect, and adapt more like the human mind.
What makes this raise exceptional isn’t just the size, but the ambition. Murati’s lab is reportedly building a large-scale compute cluster, hiring top researchers, and already collaborating with academic partners. With her OpenAI pedigree and this massive capital injection, Thinking Machines is positioning itself as a serious contender in the race for post-GPT intelligence — what Murati calls the “next cognitive leap
Cluely Scores $15M to Supercharge Its ‘Cheat-at-Everything’ AI”
Cluely, the San Francisco-based AI startup notorious for its cheeky slogan “cheat at everything,” has just raised $15 million in Series A funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from earlier backers Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures, following a $5.3 million seed round two months ago . The company was co-founded this year by 21-year-old Roy Lee and Neel Shanmugam—both previously suspended by Columbia University over their tool “Interview Coder,” designed to help engineers cheat on technical interviews.
Rather than toning down its provocative branding, Cluely continues leaning into controversy, marketing itself as an “undetectable” AI that monitors your screen to feed real-time answers on job interviews, exams, or sales calls. With the fresh capital, Cluely’s founder aims to rack up 1 billion views across social platforms and is hiring 50 “growth interns” tasked with posting TikToks daily to boost its visibility. Andreessen Horowitz’s Bryan Kim praised Lee’s bold vision, calling him a “founder with the boldness to rethink what’s possible
Meta’s Power Play: After Failing to Buy Sutskever’s AI Giant, Zuck Goes for the Brain
Meta recently attempted a bold acquisition of Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), the $32 billion AI startup launched by Ilya Sutskever, the former chief scientist at OpenAI. Sutskever, however, declined the offer, standing firm on keeping SSI independent and aligned with its founding mission to build safe and powerful artificial intelligence. SSI, backed by enormous hype and significant capital, is seen as one of the few entities truly competing with OpenAI in the long-term AI race. Meta’s attempt to buy it outright revealed the company’s urgency to close the innovation gap in superintelligent systems.
Rather than backing off, Meta quickly pivoted to a talent-centric strategy. The tech giant is now reportedly in advanced talks to hire Daniel Gross, SSI’s co-founder and CEO, along with Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO and Gross’s long-time collaborator. If the hires go through, they’ll join Meta’s newly formed “superintelligence” unit, currently led by Alexandr Wang, fresh from Scale AI after a multi-billion dollar deal. With delays in Meta’s internal models like “Behemoth” and growing pressure from OpenAI, Anthropic, and others, Zuckerberg seems focused on building an elite brain trust—one that could define the next chapter of the AI arms race.
SoftBank’s Trillion-Dollar Bet: Project Crystal Land Aims to Reshape U.S. Tech
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is reportedly charting an ambitious course to develop a $1 trillion industrial complex in Arizona, dubbed Project Crystal Land. The plan aims to establish a Shenzhen‑style high-tech campus focused on AI, robotics, and semiconductor manufacturing, with a particular eye toward replicating global supply chains on U.S. soil. SoftBank is in early-stage talks with chip titan TSMC, which already has Arizona presence, as well as Samsung, while engaging U.S. federal and state officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to explore tax incentives—potentially making this mega‑project one of the largest private tech builds ever attempted.
This bold move follows SoftBank’s recent renaissance: a $7.8 billion net income in the fiscal year ending March and heavy stakes in AI efforts, from its $500 billion Stargate data‑centre initiative (involving OpenAI and Oracle) to significant investments in OpenAI and ARM. With global competition heating up, Project Crystal Land represents SoftBank’s strategic push to anchor advanced AI and robotics capabilities domestically—reducing dependence on Asia and making Arizona a centerpiece of America’s future technological sovereignty. Yet major questions remain: Can Son secure the necessary partnerships, governmental backing, and financing to turn trillion-dollar ambition into reality?
Game On: Oakley Meta HSTN Brings 3K AI to the Field”
Meta has teamed up with Oakley to launch the Oakley Meta HSTN, a new line of AI-powered smart glasses tailored for athletes and enthusiasts. Integrating Oakley’s rugged performance frames with Meta AI, the HSTN features a front-facing 12 MP camera capable of capturing 3K video, open-ear speakers, and a five-microphone array—all within a lightweight, sweat-resistant IPX4 build. Battery life has significantly improved over previous models, offering up to 8 hours of active use, 19 hours on standby, and rapid charging: 50% in just 20 minutes, with an optional charging case extending life to 48 hours.
Beyond hardware upgrades, the Oakley Meta HSTN delivers hands-free AI assistance through voice prompts like “Hey Meta, take a video” or “Hey Meta, how strong is the wind today?”, making it ideal for real-time performance tracking, translations, and more. It’ll debut in limited-edition form ($499) on July 11, with broader availability ($399 models) across North America, Europe, Australia, and later in markets like India and the UAE. With athlete ambassadors like Mbappé and Mahomes backing the launch, Meta is staking its claim in the next wave of wearable AI—this time on the track, trail, and turf.