Thinking Machines wants to build an AI that actually listens while it talks

TechCrunch Desktop Logo TechCrunch Mobile Logo LatestStartupsVentureAppleSecurityAIAppsDisrupt 2026 EventsPodcastsNewsletters SearchSubmit Site Search Toggle Mega Menu Toggle Topics Latest AI Amazon Apps Biotech & Health Climate Cloud Computing Commerce Crypto Enterprise EVs Fintech Fundraising Gadgets Gaming Google Government & Policy Hardware Instagram Layoffs Media & Entertainment Meta Microsoft Privacy Robotics Security Social Space Startups TikTok Transportation Venture More from TechCrunch Staff Events Startup Battlefield StrictlyVC Newsletters Podcasts Videos Partner Content TechCrunch Brand Studio Contact Us In Brief Posted: 9:52 PM PDT · May 11, 2026 Image Credits:Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu / Connie Loizos Thinking Machines wants to build an AI that actually listens while it talks Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded last year by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, on Monday announced something called interaction models, which, at its essence, sounds like AI that can interrupt you. Right now, every AI model you’ve ever used works the same way. Thinking Machines is trying to change that by building a model that processes your input and generates a response at the same time, so it’s more like a phone call than a text chain.

The technical term for this is “full duplex,” and the company claims its model, TML-Interaction-Small, responds in 0.40 seconds, which is roughly the speed of natural human conversation and significantly faster than comparable models from OpenAI and Google. Still, this is a research preview, not a product. The company isn’t releasing it to the public yet.

A “limited research preview” is coming in the next few months, it says, with a wider release set for later this year. The benchmarks are impressive and the underlying idea — that interactivity should be native to a model — is definitely interesting. Whether the real-world experience lives up to the technical claims is something we won’t know until people can actually use it.

Topics AI, In Brief, interaction models, Mira Murati, Thinking Machines Lab October 13 – 15 San Francisco Scale faster. Gain practical expertise. No matter your goal, Disrupt can empower you.Save up to $300 today!

REGISTER NOW Newsletters See More Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news TechCrunch Daily News Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage. TechCrunch Mobility TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight. Startups Weekly Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.

StrictlyVC Provides movers and shakers with the info they need to start their day. Subscribe By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. { "title": "Newsletters", "description": "Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news", "showBtn": "1", "newsletters": [,,,], "currentUserEmail": "", "urls": } Related AI Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’ Lucas Ropek 18 hours ago AI An unreleased Anthropic model made progress on one of math’s biggest unsolved problems Russell Brandom 20 hours ago AI As AI-led attacks multiply, OpenAI launches a new cyber model Lucas Ropek 2 days ago Latest in AI AI AI code-testing startup Blacksmith’s valuation jumps almost 10x in less than a year Jagmeet Singh 1 hour ago Venture Accel closes oversubscribed $550M India fund within weeks, 19 months after its last Jagmeet Singh 14 hours ago In Brief OpenAI launches ChatGPT desktop app for Linux Lucas Ropek 17 hours ago X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunchStaffContact UsAdvertiseSite Map Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyRSS Terms of UseCode of Conduct OpenAI vs AppleNous ResearchSpace Data CentersStaya NadellaSpaceX StarshipTech LayoffsChatGPT © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC.