OpenAI устанавливает новый рекорд, достигая оценки в $500 миллиардов благодаря продаже акций Translation: OpenAI sets a new record, reaching a $500 billion valuation through share sales.

OpenAI has allowed its current and former employees to sell shares worth $6.6 billion. The valuation of the startup in this transaction reached $500 billion, setting a new record for private companies, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

The buyers included SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, MGX, and T. Rowe Price.

This sale was not a typical investment round; the funds did not go directly to the company but to shareholders and option holders.

In August, the firm raised $8.3 billion with a valuation of $300 billion. The round was closed several months ahead of the anticipated timeline as part of its goal to attract $40 billion by 2025. Investors included SoftBank, Thrive, T. Rowe Price, Dragoneer, Blackstone, TPG, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Recently, Meta has been actively recruiting researchers from OpenAI and other leading labs, offering compensation packages in nine-digit amounts.

The share sale by employees may encourage them to remain with the company rather than accepting competitive offers from rivals.

The total volume of shares sold in the secondary round was below the maximum allowable limit. OpenAI reportedly agreed to a deal worth over $10 billion, as noted by sources. This could indicate that current and former employees are confident in the long-term viability of the business.

Recall that in September, OpenAI launched Sora 2 — an updated version of its audio and video generator. The company also introduced a social app Sora, where users can create video clips with themselves and friends and share them in an algorithmic feed reminiscent of TikTok.