What happened
Google signed a new multibillion dollar deal with Thinking Machines Lab on April 22, 2026. The deal expands a partnership the two firms started in 2025. Thinking Machines Lab is the AI research startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. The lab focuses on safety, alignment, and frontier model work.
Why it matters
The move sits inside a wider Google strategy. The company is backing several frontier AI groups at once, including Anthropic with its own large investment. Spreading the bets gives Google several lines into the next wave of model progress. It also signals that Google sees value in funding labs that operate independently of its own research teams.
MintedBrain take
For users tracking the model market, Mira Murati's lab is one to watch. Big Google compute behind it could shorten the path from research to a usable product over the next year.
Discussion
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