According to the report, instead of a traditional funding round to raise money for the company, employees will be able to cash out their company shares under the terms of the agreement.
According to the New York Times, which cited people with knowledge of the transaction, Microsoft-backed OpenAI has closed a deal that values the artificial intelligence startup at $80 billion or more. According to the report, the company would sell its current shares in a “tender offer” headed by the venture capital firm Thrive Capital.
Instead of a traditional funding round to raise money for the business, employees will be able to cash out their company shares under the terms of the agreement, the report stated. OpenAI did not respond to a Reuters request for comment right away.
It agreed to a similar agreement early in the previous year. When venture capital firms Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and K2 Global chose to buy shares in a tender offer, the report states that OpenAI was valued at about $29 billion.
The introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 has generated interest in artificial intelligence and prompted businesses to investigate how to best utilize the technology.In an effort to increase global chip production capacity and support the development of new AI-related tools, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly also been in discussions to raise capital for a chip venture.
