OpenAI Employees Set to Sell $1.5B Shares to SoftBank, Valuing Company at $157B

OpenAI employees can sell $1.5B in shares to SoftBank, which values the company at $157B. Sources close to the deal say it could close by December 24.

OpenAI is letting its employees sell up to $1.5 billion worth of shares in a deal with Japan’s SoftBank Group. The deal is likely to go through by December 24. Sources familiar with the matter said that the move fits with the company’s recent valuation of $157 billion.

SoftBank will purchase these shares through its Vision Fund 2 as part of its ongoing plan to invest more in artificial intelligence. SoftBank recently put $500 million into artificial intelligence, which led to this move.

This comes after SoftBank put $500 million into OpenAI as part of a $6.6 billion funding round in October. Employees have until the deadline to decide if they want to participate in the tender.

SoftBank has been eager to get the company more involved in the AI boom. As part of this, SoftBank is buying more shares in OpenAI and other tech companies, like chip startup Graphcore. Also, the company recently gave hints that it was getting ready to make big investments but didn’t say more.

OpenAI Hits 250M Weekly Users, Leading AI Innovation

This company, OpenAI, has grown quickly. Since ChatGPT came out, the company has gained 250 million weekly active users, making it even more of an AI innovation leader.

OpenAI and SoftBank refrained from commenting on the share sale or any related plans. This tender offer shows that big companies are becoming more interested in AI-focused businesses and want to get a piece of the technologies that will change the future.