ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has crossed a market valuation of $500 billion after a deal to help employees sell shares in the company, says a Bloomberg report. With this, the Sam Altman-led AI company has surpassed Elon Musk ’s space company SpaceX, becoming the world’s most-valuable startup. For reference, Elon Musk’s SpaceX was valued at $400 billion in July.
How OpenAI became world’s most valuable company
OpenAI was previously valued at $300 billion in March this year, as part of a $40bn financing led by Japan’s SoftBank Group. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report says that company executives started talking about selling employee shares at a much higher valuation only a few months later.
OpenAI has so far allowed its employees to sell up to $10bn of their shares but many elected not to sell. As part of the latest deal, current and former employees of OpenAI will be able to sell about $6.6 billion of their stock.
As per the Bloomberg report, employees who have sold their shares to investors include Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T Rowe Price.
The share sale is seen as a sign of intense appetite for AI exposure. The Bloomberg report says that investors have shown increased interest in fast-growing startups, betting that the leading player in the sector could one day be worth trillions.
To recall, OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022. Since then, the company’s annual recurring revenue has increased to $12 billion. The company projects it to rise to $20 billion by the end of 2025.
Last month, chipmaker Nvidia said it plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, with the start-up agreeing to use as much as 10 gigawatts of computing power powered by Nvidia’s AI chips.
The share sale is the latest sign of intense appetite for exposure to AI. Investors are piling into promising start-ups in the hope that the dominant company in the field will ultimately be worth trillions of dollars.
How OpenAI became world’s most valuable company
OpenAI was previously valued at $300 billion in March this year, as part of a $40bn financing led by Japan’s SoftBank Group. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report says that company executives started talking about selling employee shares at a much higher valuation only a few months later.
OpenAI has so far allowed its employees to sell up to $10bn of their shares but many elected not to sell. As part of the latest deal, current and former employees of OpenAI will be able to sell about $6.6 billion of their stock.
As per the Bloomberg report, employees who have sold their shares to investors include Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T Rowe Price.
The share sale is seen as a sign of intense appetite for AI exposure. The Bloomberg report says that investors have shown increased interest in fast-growing startups, betting that the leading player in the sector could one day be worth trillions.
To recall, OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022. Since then, the company’s annual recurring revenue has increased to $12 billion. The company projects it to rise to $20 billion by the end of 2025.
Last month, chipmaker Nvidia said it plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, with the start-up agreeing to use as much as 10 gigawatts of computing power powered by Nvidia’s AI chips.
The share sale is the latest sign of intense appetite for exposure to AI. Investors are piling into promising start-ups in the hope that the dominant company in the field will ultimately be worth trillions of dollars.
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