OpenAI is reportedly in early talks with investors over a potential share sale that may value the ChatGPT maker at around $500 billion.
OpenAI is reportedly in early discussions with investors over a potential share sale that could value the ChatGPT developer at $500 billion.
According to sources cited by the Financial Times, the artificial intelligence firm, backed by Microsoft, is said to be working with investors on a new tender offer that would allow employees and existing shareholders to sell equity, rather than raising fresh capital for the business.
If completed, the move would make OpenAI one of the most valuable private tech companies in the world – surpassing the market caps of many publicly traded firms.
Sources familiar with the matter told FT that the discussions are still preliminary and subject to change, with no guarantee that a deal will materialise.
However, the valuation target reflects investor optimism around the company’s growth trajectory and dominant position in the generative AI space.
The San Francisco-based firm, led by CEO Sam Altman, was valued at around $86 billion during its last share sale in late 2023.
Since then, the ChatGPT company has launched multiple product upgrades and new tools – including a ‘study mode’ for students and integrations with Microsoft’s productivity suite – while continuing to drive adoption of its GPT-4 model across enterprise and consumer markets.
The news comes as competition in the AI sector intensifies.
Google, Meta, and Anthropic are all accelerating development of their own foundation models, while regulators across the U.S. and Europe are scrutinising the safety, transparency, and commercial influence of major AI providers.
Microsoft, which has invested more than $13 billion into OpenAI, would likely retain a substantial interest in the company if the deal proceeds.
The tech giant uses OpenAI’s models to power features across Bing, Office, and Azure cloud services.
Neither OpenAI nor Microsoft has publicly commented on the share sale discussions.
OpenAI ‘in talks with investors about share sale, valuing ChatGPT maker at 500bn USD’
