OpenAI is in talks with investors for a potential secondary share sale by its employees, which could value the company between $80-90 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
The AI firm, which had previously received a $10 billion investment from Microsoft earlier this year, was reportedly valued at $29 billion in its last financing round, where it raised $300 million from some of the leading VC firms, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz.
Softbank is said to be looking to invest in the ChatGPT-maker, according to a report by Financial Times.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, reported that the AI company won’t issue any new shares as part of the deal. It stated the company representatives have also started pitching investors on the deal, while also noting that the terms of the deal could change.
The company is expected to generate $1 billion in revenue this year and ‘many billions’ more in 2024, according to the WSJ.
If the deal materializes and OpenAI’s valuation reaches $90 billion, it would become the third most highly valued startup in the world. It is already the most highly valued AI startup in the world.
The report follows a busy week for OpenAI, which made many significant announcements, including DALL-E 3 and the unveiling of voice chat and image features on ChatGPT, all within the past week.
