Neal Wu Joins Thinking Machines Lab Amid Poaching

Neal Wu, a three-time international programming Olympiad gold medalist and Cognition founding member, has been working at Thinking Machines Lab since January 2025, Business Insider reports. The stealthy startup led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, valued above $10 billion and backed by a $2 billion seed round, has not publicly announced Wu's role. The hire underscores intense talent competition and poaching in the AI industry.