OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during an event in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 9, 2023.
Sung-jun Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
According to CNBC, OpenAI allowed employees to sell about $1.5 billion worth of stock in a new tender offer to SoftBank.
Two people familiar with the matter told CNBC that the new financing will give the Japanese technology group a larger stake in the artificial intelligence startup, and current and former OpenAI employees will be able to cash in their shares.
A person familiar with the matter said the new tender offer, which has not been previously reported, will close this week. The deal was driven by SoftBank billionaire founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who insisted on getting more money at the startup after pouring $500 million into OpenAI’s last funding round, a person familiar with the matter said. Multiple shares.
This tender offer is not related to OpenAI’s potential corporate restructuring plan to profit-making enterprises“, said a person familiar with the matter.
OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment.
The news underscores Son’s interest in the field of artificial intelligence and backing the most valuable private companies. SoftBank is an early investor in Arm, Masayoshi Son explain At a recent conference, he was saving “tens of billions of dollars” to make the “next big move” in artificial intelligence. He has previously invested in Apple, Qualcomm and Alibaba.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 recently invested in artificial intelligence startups Glean, Perplexity and Poolside. SoftBank’s two Vision Funds have about 470 portfolio companies and $160 billion in assets.
A person close to Son told CNBC that OpenAI’s investment matches SoftBank’s desire to deploy a cash- and capital-intensive business model.
Even without SoftBank’s deep pockets, OpenAI could easily raise billions in cash. In the two years since ChatGPT launched, its valuation has climbed to $157 billion. OpenAI has raised approximately $13 billion in funding Microsoftand it Completed the latest round of financing of US$6.6 billion in OctoberLed by Thrive Capital, chipmaker participated NVIDIASoftBank, etc.
The company also received $4 billion revolving credit facilitybringing its total liquidity to over $10 billion. CNBC confirmed to a person familiar with the matter in September that OpenAI expected revenue to reach $3.7 billion this year and a loss of about $5 billion.
OpenAI employees can cash out
The tender offer will be open to current and former employees who acquired restricted stock units at least two years ago and held the shares for at least that long, a person familiar with the matter said. The $210 unit price will be in line with the company’s most recent round of funding.
With the IPO market dormant and company valuations soaring, tender offers have become critical for tech employees. Private companies rely on such deals to keep employees happy and ease the pressure of listing on public markets. Since OpenAI won’t have an immediate IPO and the company is too expensive for potential acquirers, a secondary stock sale is the only way for shareholders to pocket some of their paper wealth in the near future.
Databricks is another private company raising capital to allow employees to cash out and avoid the pressure of public markets, according to CNBC report This week.
OpenAI has taken a stricter approach to tender offers in the past, with rules allowing companies to decide who can participate in stock sales, CNBC June report. Current and former OpenAI employees previously told CNBC Concerns are growing over access to liquidity after reports that the company has the right to claw back vested stakes.
But the company reversed its policy on secondary stock sales this summer and now allows current and former employees to participate equally in the annual tender offer.
The company expects to allow more secondary sales and will need to tap the private market again in the future based on investor demand and the capital-intensive nature of the business, according to a person familiar with this week’s takeover bid.
OpenAI faces increasing competition from startups such as Anthropic and technology giants such as Google. The generative artificial intelligence market is Expected to exceed US$1 trillion Revenue and enterprise spending on generative AI over ten years Soared 500% this yearAccording to the latest data from Menlo Ventures.
Last monthOpenAI Introducing search function In its viral chatbot ChatGPT, the powerful AI startup is able to better compete with search engines, such as GoogleMicrosoft’s Bing and Puzzled.
