OpenAI employees are reportedly seeking to sell nearly $6 billion worth of shares to investors including SoftBank Group and Thrive Capital, a source told Reuters on Friday.
READ ALSO: Aker, Nscale, OpenAI to Build AI Hub in Norway
The deal, if finalized, would raise OpenAI’s valuation to $500 billion up from its current $300 billion highlighting the company’s surging user base, growing revenue, and the fierce competition among AI firms for top talent.
SoftBank, Thrive and Dragoneer Investment Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All three investment firms are existing OpenAI investors.
Bloomberg News, which had earlier reported the development, said discussions are in early stages and the size of the sale could change.
The secondary share sale investment adds to SoftBank’s role in leading OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round.
Powered by its flagship ChatGPT, OpenAI has doubled revenue in the first seven months of the year, hitting an annualized run rate of $12 billion and is on pace to reach $20 billion by year-end, Reuters reported earlier in August.
The Microsoft-backed company now counts about 700 million weekly active ChatGPT users, up from roughly 400 million in February.