OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, the Microsoft-backed AI startup, began selling shares worth $1.5 billion on Wednesday to its employees in a new tender offer for Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, according to a report in Reuters citing sources.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, keen to expand his stake in the AI leader, plans to invest through Vision Fund 2, in line with OpenAI’s $157 billion valuation from its October funding round.
In its latest round, OpenAI raised $6.6 billion, including $500 million from SoftBank. Employees have until December 24 to decide whether to participate in the stock sale, which offers shares at the same price as the previous round.
Masayoshi Son has expressed ambitions to amplify SoftBank’s involvement in AI technologies, through investments in OpenAI and startup Graphcore. OpenAI, valued at $157 billion, has received significant global attention, especially since the launch of ChatGPT, which has amassed 250 million weekly active users.
Neither SoftBank nor OpenAI commented on the tender offer.