OpenAI has purportedly entered into an agreement that has escalated the valuation of the San Francisco artificial intelligence (AI) company to £80 billion or more, indicating an almost threefold surge in less than 10 months.
As per a report in The New York Times, the company intends to vend current shares in a tender offer spearheaded by Thrive Capital. This strategy permits employees to vend their shares, deviating from conventional funding rounds aimed at garnering capital for business activities.
In a similar arrangement in 2023, venture capital firms Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and K2 Global consented to procure OpenAI shares in a tender offer, establishing the company’s worth at roughly £29 billion, as per the report.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also purportedly been engaging in discussions to amass funds for a chip venture and advocating collaborations between the company and “various investors,” chip manufacturers, and energy suppliers.
The CEO affirmed that OpenAI would consent to be a “significant customer” of the new factories as he endeavours to enhance the world’s chip-producing capability to propel novel AI-related tools.
In December 2023, it was disclosed that OpenAI was deliberating with investors contemplating injecting over £100 billion into the company.
In November 2023, the OpenAI board expelled Altman, inciting turmoil and casting doubts on the company’s future.
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Employees threatened to resign en masse, prompting Altman’s reinstatement, accompanied by the departure of some board members.
OpenAI enlisted law firm WilmerHale to scrutinise the board’s decisions and Altman’s stewardship. The report on the matter is anticipated in early 2024.
The unveiling of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 sparked interest in AI, instigating companies to delve into methods to harness the potential of the technology.
The AI company revealed its inaugural text-to-video model on Thursday, 15th February.
While acknowledging that the model still requires refinement, the new generative AI model dubbed Sora generates intricate videos from simple text prompts, extends existing videos, and even concocts scenes based on a static image.
OpenAI did not promptly respond to a Cointelegraph request for comment on the agreement.
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