OpenAI's Valuation Rockets to $80 Billion Amid Novel Tech Developments and Leadership Turmoil
Summary:
San Francisco-based AI firm, OpenAI, has signed a deal that reportedly boosts its valuation to more than $80 billion. The company aims to sell existing shares through a tender offer led by Thrive Capital. Last year, in a similar arrangement, the company's value was set at roughly $29 billion. CEO Sam Altman has been allegedly brokering deals for a chip venture and partnering with investors, chip manufacturers, and energy providers. The firm emerged from a turbulent period last year, including the brief removal of CEO Altman. OpenAI has also made significant advances in AI, recently releasing an innovative text-to-video model called Sora.
San Francisco-based OpenAI has reportedly inked a deal that catapults the artificial intelligence (AI) firm's valuation to upwards of $80 billion, nearly tripling its worth in less than a year. A report by the New York Times reveals that the company's plan is to sell existing shares through a tender offer headed by Thrive Capital, a departure from a conventional funding round focused on gathering capital for business activities.
In a similar move last year, venture capitalists namely Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and K2 Global concurred to buy OpenAI shares via a tender offer, thus setting the organization's worth near $29 billion, as per the report.
OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, is rumored to have been brokering deals to amass funding for a chip enterprise and forging alliances between the AI firm and multiple investors, chip manufacturers, and energy contributors. Altman affirmed OpenAI's willingness to become a "major customer" of the new factories in a bid to stimulate the global chip production capacity to fuel new AI-focused utilities.
Late in 2023, it emerged that OpenAI was entertaining talks with investors poised to pump over $100 billion into the corporation.
This deal represents a critical lifeline for OpenAI, offering essential backing following a shaky spell. The board ejected CEO Sam Altman in November, triggering turmoil and casting the company's future into uncertainty. In response to the chaos, employees threatened mass resignations, resulting in the restoration of Altman to his post and triggering exits by some board members.
In a move to grapple with the previous year's upheaval, OpenAI solicited the services of law firm WilmerHale, to review board decisions and Altman's top leadership. A report on the matter from WilmerHale is expected early this year.
OpenAI's unveiling of its ChatGPT late in 2022 served as a springboard for the AI hype, inspiring corporate interest in ways to leverage the new tech. On Thursday, Feb. 15, the company rolled out its pioneer text-to-video model.
Despite acknowledging that there is much room for improvement, the firm's latest generative AI model, named Sora, is capable of composing intricate videos from straightforward text prompts, extending existing videos, and even generating scenes based on an isolated image.
Cointelegraph's request for OpenAI's comments in regards to the deal's finalization went unanswered.
Published At
2/17/2024 3:23:09 PM
Disclaimer: Algoine does not endorse any content or product on this page. Readers should conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the asset, company, or any information in this article and assume full responsibility for their decisions. This article should not be considered as investment advice. Our news is prepared with AI support.
Do you suspect this content may be misleading, incomplete, or inappropriate in any way, requiring modification or removal?
We appreciate your report.