OpenAI employees are considering selling shares worth nearly $6 billion to an investor group including SoftBank, Thrive Capital, and Dragoneer Investment Group. This could elevate the company's valuation.
Plans for OpenAI Share Sale
The share sale is expected to take place at a raised company valuation of $500 billion, despite its current valuation of $300 billion. However, sources indicate that discussions are still preliminary and the deal value could change.
Funding from SoftBank
SoftBank has committed to lead OpenAI's $40 billion fundraising round, of which $8.3 billion has already been secured from investors. Additionally, sources indicate that SoftBank struck a $1 billion deal to buy an employee's shares before negotiations over the secondary valuation commenced.
Launch of New GPT-5 Model
Recently, OpenAI launched its new GPT-5 model; however, the model's release faced criticism from analysts for being less intuitive, prompting the firm to reinstate GPT-4 for its paying customers.
If the deal is finalized, a $500 billion price tag would rank OpenAI as the most valuable startup globally, surpassing SpaceX. The launch of GPT-5 and funding plans underscore the rising interest in AI technologies.
