Mira Murati
Ermira "Mira" Murati (born December 16, 1988) is an Albanian-American technology executive and entrepreneur who served as Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI from 2022 to 2024, playing a central role in the development and launch of ChatGPT. She briefly served as interim CEO of OpenAI during the tumultuous November 2023 leadership crisis that saw Sam Altman's temporary ouster. In 2025, she founded Thinking Machines Lab, an artificial intelligence startup valued at $12 billion.
Murati's journey from communist-era Albania to the pinnacle of Silicon Valley's AI industry represents one of the most remarkable ascents in modern technology history. Her work on ChatGPT helped democratize artificial intelligence for hundreds of millions of users worldwide, fundamentally transforming how humans interact with machines.
Early life and education
Mira Murati was born on December 16, 1988, in Vlorë, a port city on Albania's Adriatic coast. She grew up during the final tumultuous years of Enver Hoxha's communist regime and witnessed the country's chaotic transition to capitalism following the regime's collapse in 1991. Both of her parents worked as high school teachers specializing in literature, instilling in her an appreciation for learning despite the economic hardships that plagued post-communist Albania.
"Growing up in Albania, during the shift from communism to capitalism, education was everything," Murati has recalled in interviews. The isolation of her homeland paradoxically fueled her intellectual curiosity. "In a place where everything was uncertain, I gravitated toward science and truth."
Despite her parents' literary backgrounds, Murati developed what she described as an "organic interest towards math and science." She excelled in academic competitions and Olympiads throughout her schooling, demonstrating an aptitude that would eventually carry her across the Atlantic Ocean.
At age 16, Murati won a transformative scholarship from United World Colleges (UWC), an international education movement founded on the principle that education can unite people across countries and cultures. The scholarship sent her to Pearson College UWC on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, where she completed her International Baccalaureate in 2005.
From Canada, Murati proceeded to the United States to pursue higher education through a dual-degree program. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College in Maine in 2011, while simultaneously completing a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in 2012. This rigorous academic path combined liberal arts education with technical engineering training, providing her with both broad intellectual foundations and specialized technical expertise.
In June 2024, Dartmouth College recognized Murati's contributions to technology by awarding her an honorary Doctor of Science degree, citing her work in having "democratized technology and advanced a better, safer world for us all."
Career
Early career: Goldman Sachs and Aerospace
Murati's professional career began in 2011 when she interned as a summer analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, Japan. This early experience in international finance exposed her to the global business environment, though she would soon shift toward technology and engineering.
After Goldman Sachs, she briefly worked for Zodiac Aerospace, a French company specializing in aircraft equipment and systems. This position introduced her to the complexities of engineering in regulated industries and the challenges of developing systems where reliability is paramount.
Tesla (2013–2016)
In 2013, Murati joined Tesla, Inc. as a product manager on the Tesla Model X program. Working under Elon Musk, she gained firsthand experience in the demanding environment of a company disrupting an established industry. The Model X, Tesla's luxury electric SUV, presented numerous engineering challenges, including its distinctive falcon-wing doors and advanced autopilot features.
Her time at Tesla provided valuable lessons in managing complex product development while maintaining aggressive timelines. The company's culture of pushing technological boundaries and challenging conventional wisdom would influence her approach throughout her career.
Leap Motion (2016–2018)
From 2016 to 2018, Murati worked for Leap Motion (later renamed Ultraleap), an augmented reality startup focused on hand-tracking technology. As the company attempted to pioneer new forms of human-computer interaction, Murati developed expertise in the emerging fields that would later prove crucial to her work in artificial intelligence.
The startup environment at Leap Motion differed markedly from Tesla's scale, requiring her to operate with limited resources while pursuing ambitious technological goals. This experience would prove valuable when she later joined the then-smaller OpenAI.
OpenAI (2018–2024)
Murati joined OpenAI in 2018 as Vice President of Applied AI and Partnerships. At the time, OpenAI was still primarily a research organization, having been founded in 2015 with backing from Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and other prominent technology figures.
Over the following years, Murati rose through the organization's ranks, taking on increasing responsibility for translating research breakthroughs into products that could be used by the general public. In May 2022, she was promoted to Chief Technology Officer, placing her at the center of OpenAI's most ambitious projects.
ChatGPT Launch
Murati's most significant achievement at OpenAI came with the November 2022 launch of ChatGPT, a conversational AI assistant based on the company's GPT-3.5 language model. As CTO, she oversaw the technical development and deployment of the system that would become the fastest-growing consumer application in history, reaching 100 million users within two months of its launch.
In numerous media appearances following the launch, Murati became one of the primary public faces of OpenAI, explaining the technology to audiences ranging from congressional committees to mainstream television viewers. She navigated difficult questions about AI safety, job displacement, and the technology's limitations with a measured approach that emphasized both the potential and the risks.
"After its release, my mother asked ChatGPT in Albanian, 'When will Mira Murati get married?'" she recounted with humor at one conference. Her sister responded: "Mom, it is just artificial intelligence. It is not magic."
November 2023 Leadership Crisis
On November 17, 2023, OpenAI's board of directors abruptly fired CEO Sam Altman, citing a loss of confidence in his candor. The board appointed Murati as interim CEO, thrusting her into the center of one of Silicon Valley's most dramatic corporate crises.
The situation was complicated by Murati's own relationship to Altman's ouster. According to reporting by The New York Times, Murati had collaborated with co-founder Ilya Sutskever in documenting concerns about Altman's management. A 52-page memo presented to the board reportedly relied heavily on screenshots and information she provided.
Former board member Helen Toner later explained that Altman had allegedly withheld information about the release of ChatGPT, made misstatements about OpenAI's formal safety processes, and that two executives had reported "psychological abuse" to the board.
Murati served as interim CEO for only three days before being replaced by Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch. Five days after that, following a dramatic revolt by OpenAI employees who threatened to resign en masse, Altman was reinstated as CEO. Murati returned to her role as CTO, though tensions inevitably lingered.
Within OpenAI, some employees speculated that Altman viewed Murati as disloyal due to her role in the crisis. A March 2024 investigation cleared Altman of wrongdoing, concluding his behavior "did not mandate removal."
Departure
On September 25, 2024, Murati announced she was leaving OpenAI after six and a half years with the company. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right," she wrote in her resignation announcement.
Her departure came on the same day that Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and Vice President of Research Barret Zoph also announced their exits, raising questions about the company's direction as it prepared to restructure into a for-profit entity.
Sam Altman responded to her resignation on social media: "It has been one of the great honors of my career to work alongside Mira. I am incredibly grateful for what she has done both for OpenAI and for the world."
Thinking Machines Lab (2025–present)
In February 2025, Murati emerged from her post-OpenAI hiatus to announce the founding of Thinking Machines Lab, an artificial intelligence startup based in San Francisco. The company is structured as a public benefit corporation, reflecting a commitment to developing AI that benefits humanity.
The startup launched with approximately 30 researchers and engineers recruited from competitors including OpenAI, Meta AI, and Mistral AI. Key hires included Barret Zoph, former OpenAI VP of Research (Post-Training), Lilian Weng, former OpenAI VP, and OpenAI co-founder John Schulman.
In April 2025, Thinking Machines Lab completed a remarkable early-stage funding round. Led by Andreessen Horowitz and including investors such as Nvidia, AMD, Cisco, and Jane Street, the round raised $2 billion at a valuation of $12 billion—an extraordinary figure for a company with no products or revenue at the time.
The Albanian government, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, also participated with a $10 million investment. Rama personally proposed the initiative to Murati, viewing it as an opportunity to signal Albania's commitment to innovation as the country pursues European Union membership.
In October 2025, the company announced its first product, Tinker, a tool designed to create custom frontier AI models. The approach emphasizes human-AI collaboration over fully autonomous systems.
Personal life
Murati maintains strict privacy regarding her personal life. While some media reports in 2024 claimed she married in a private ceremony in Tuscany, Italy, with Albanian traditions and strict confidentiality agreements for guests, this has not been officially confirmed.
She resides in San Francisco, California, near the headquarters of Thinking Machines Lab.
Controversies and criticism
Role in Altman Ouster
Murati's role in the November 2023 OpenAI leadership crisis remains a subject of debate. While she denied complaints to the board about Altman prior to his firing, reporting suggested she had provided information that contributed to the board's decision. Her quick transition back to supporting Altman after briefly serving as interim CEO led some to question her motivations.
Critics argued she should have more clearly either supported or opposed Altman from the beginning, rather than appearing to shift positions as events unfolded.
Poaching Controversy
Thinking Machines Lab's aggressive recruitment from OpenAI and other competitors drew criticism. According to Fortune, the company became "a poaching target" itself for executives including Mark Zuckerberg, indicating the intensity of competition for AI talent.
Awards and recognition
- Time 100 Most Influential People in AI (2024)
- Fortune 100 Most Powerful Women in Business, ranked 57th (2023)
- Honorary Doctor of Science, Dartmouth College (2024)