OpenAI deal lets employees sell shares at $86 billion valuation

OpenAI has completed a deal allowing employees to sell stakes in the company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The tender offer values the artificial intelligence startup at $86 billion, a price that makes OpenAI one of the most valuable startups in the world. Bloomberg previously reported the value and that Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm led by Josh Kushner, would lead the deal. 

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OpenAI and Thrive Capital declined to comment. The New York Times earlier reported some details of the deal. 

The share sale was previously set for last year but was delayed following the OpenAI board’s ouster of Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman in November. The company has since rehired Altman and is in the process of appointing a new board of directors.

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In addition to the tender offer, OpenAI has also discussed raising new funding that could put the company at an even loftier valuation of more than $100 billion, Bloomberg previously reported. At the same time, Altman is working to raise billions of dollars to increase the world’s supply of cutting-edge computing chips, Bloomberg reported. 

OpenAI’s rising value comes more than a year after the company dazzled audiences with the debut of the AI chatbot ChatGPT. The launch touched off an AI frenzy in Silicon Valley, with tech giants, investors and startups racing to advance the technology. OpenAI has so far been a leader, reaching agreements to bring in $13 billion from Microsoft Corp. in addition to funding from other investors.

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Earlier this week, OpenAI unveiled Sora, a text-to-video generator capable of producing cinematic video clips based on text prompts.