OpenAI has surpassed Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the world’s biggest startup following a deal allowing employees to sell US$6.6 billion worth of shares.
ChatGPT now has a valuation of $500 billion. This is an increase from its previous US$300 billion, which came from a major $1.5 billion deal with SoftBank last November.
CNBC reported in August that the AI giant was looking to conduct a secondary sale to reach the $500 billion valuation with investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price.
A spokesperson from MGX said the firm was “pleased to be a core partner to OpenAI and to continue building on our strong relationship as a significant investor across multiple funding rounds”.
Open AI had originally authorised up $10.3 billion in shares for sale, an increase from the $6 billion target, but only around two-thirds of that amount ultimately changed hands.
The new valuation sees them surpass SpaceX’s $456 billion valuation to become the world’s most valuable privately held company.
The sale is set to intensify competition for AI talent, following Meta reportedly offering nine-figure compensation packages in a bid to recruit top researchers.
