Current and former employees of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, are reportedly looking to sell nearly Ksh.777 billion ($6 billion) worth of shares to major investors including SoftBank Group, Thrive Capital, and Dragoneer Investment Group. The potential deal, if finalized, would value OpenAI at an estimated $500 billion up from its current $300 billion valuation.
According to a source familiar with the matter, discussions are still at an early stage, and the size of the secondary stock sale could change. Neither SoftBank, Thrive, nor Dragoneer responded immediately to requests for comment. Bloomberg News first reported the development.
This secondary share sale comes on the heels of SoftBank’s leading role in OpenAI’s recent $40 billion primary funding round, signaling the Japanese conglomerate’s growing interest in artificial intelligence. The surge in OpenAI’s valuation underscores both its rapid rise in users and revenue as well as the fierce global competition among AI firms to attract and retain top talent.
OpenAI’s growth has been driven largely by the success of ChatGPT, its flagship product. Reuters previously reported that the company doubled its revenue in the first seven months of the year, reaching an annualized run rate of $12 billion. OpenAI is projected to hit $20 billion in revenue by the end of 2025.
User adoption has also skyrocketed. Microsoft-backed OpenAI now boasts about 700 million weekly active users for its ChatGPT products, up from approximately 400 million in February. This exponential growth has further cemented OpenAI’s position as a leader in the generative AI space, even as it faces competition from rivals such as Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and Meta.
The proposed sale is expected to give employees and early backers a chance to cash in on OpenAI’s meteoric rise while opening the door for investors like SoftBank to deepen their stakes. If the deal proceeds, it would mark one of the largest secondary stock transactions in the tech sector, highlighting AI’s central role in reshaping the technology investment landscape.
