OpenAI Mulls $500 Billion Valuation in Employee Share Sale

OpenAI is considering a secondary stock sale which could value the artificial intelligence leader at approximately $500 billion, a significant increase from its $300 billion valuation earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the talks. The deal would give current and former employees a chance to cash out several billion dollars in shares ahead of a potential IPO.

The Microsoft-backed company has seen its revenue double in the first seven months of the year, reaching an annualized $12 billion and on track for $20 billion by year-end. Weekly active users for its ChatGPT products have surged to about 700 million from 400 million in February.

The discussions follow a $40 billion primary funding round led by SoftBank Group, with $22.5 billion from the Japanese investor due by year-end. Existing investors, including Thrive Capital, may participate in the employee share sale.

The move underscores the intense battle for AI talent, with rivals like Meta investing billions in firms such as Scale AI to recruit top executives. Other private tech companies, including ByteDance and Databricks, have similarly used private share sales to refresh valuations and reward employees. Bloomberg first reported the potential transaction.