OpenAI’s valuation reportedly soars to $80 billion in latest deal

The firm reportedly plans to sell current shares in a tender offer allowing employees to sell their shares, differing from a standard funding round to raise capital for business operations.

OpenAI has reportedly signed a deal that has increased the valuation of the San Francisco artificial intelligence (AI) company to $80 billion or more, marking a nearly threefold increase in less than 10 months. 

According to a report in The New York Times, the firm plans to sell current shares in a tender offer led by Thrive Capital. This approach allows employees to sell their shares, differing from standard funding rounds to raise capital for business operations.

In a comparable arrangement in 2023, venture capital firms Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and K2 Global agreed to purchase OpenAI shares in a tender offer, establishing the company’s value at approximately $29 billion, according to the report.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also reportedly been in talks to raise funds for a chip venture and pitching partnerships between the firm and “various investors,” chip makers and energy providers. The CEO said OpenAI would agree to be a “significant customer” of the new factories as he looks to boost the world’s chip-building capacity to drive new AI-related tools.

In December 2023, it was reported that OpenAI was in discussions with investors considering investing more than $100 billion into the company.

In November 2023, the OpenAI board ousted Altman, causing chaos and raising doubts about the company’s future. Employees threatened to resign in solidarity, which led to Altman’s reinstatement, with some board members departing.

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OpenAI enlisted law firm WilmerHale to examine the board’s decisions and Altman’s leadership. The report on the matter is expected in early 2024.

The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 kicked off the buzz around AI, prompting companies to explore ways to harness the power of the technology. The AI firm unveiled its first-ever text-to-video model on Thursday, Feb. 15.

Though the firm admits the model still has a ways to go, the new generative AI model dubbed Sora creates detailed videos from simple text prompts, continues existing videos, and even generates scenes based on a still image.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Cointelegraph request for comment on the deal.