OpenAI Concludes Share Sale Valued at $86 Billion

AI company OpenAI has agreed to sell its shares in a tender offer to Thrive Capital, valuing the firm at $86 billion, according to Bloomberg, citing sources.

The deal will allow employees to cash out their shares.

According to the agency, the tender offer was initially planned for 2023 but was postponed following the board’s decision to remove OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He returned to his position two weeks later.

In April 2023, TechCrunch reported that OpenAI raised $300 million from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, K2 Global, and Founders Fund, valuing the company at $27–29 billion at that time.

In December, Bloomberg sources revealed that OpenAI was in talks for a new funding round, which could value the AI company at $100 billion or more.

In February 2024, sources from The Wall Street Journal reported that Altman began discussions with investors to raise between $5 trillion and $7 trillion for an ambitious chip production project.

On February 15, OpenAI introduced a new generative AI model called Sora, which transforms text into video. The tool was met with enthusiasm on social media, though it requires significant refinement before full launch.