In Brief

Posted:

9:52 PM PDT · May 11, 2026

Image Credits:Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu / Getty Images

- 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. You talk, it listens. It responds, you listen. 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.

So what to make of it? We’re not sure. 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, interaction models, Mira Murati, Thinking Machines Lab

May 27

Athens, Greece

StrictlyVC Athens is up next. Hear unfiltered insights straight from Europe’s tech leaders and connect with the people shaping what’s ahead. Lock in your spot before it’s gone.

Newsletters

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.

No newsletters selected.

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.

Venture

Riding an AI rally, Robinhood preps second retail venture IPO

- Marina Temkin

8 hours ago

Media & Entertainment

Digg tries again, this time as an AI news aggregator

- Sarah Perez

15 hours ago

Transportation

Uber has always wanted to be more than a ride; now it has reason to hurry

- Connie Loizos

2 days ago

Latest in AI

In Brief

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

- Connie Loizos

3 hours ago

Venture

Riding an AI rally, Robinhood preps second retail venture IPO

- Marina Temkin

8 hours ago

Transportation

GM just laid off hundreds of IT workers to hire those with stronger AI skills

- Kirsten Korosec

9 hours ago