OpenAI completes a deal that values the startup at a whopping $80 billion

OpenAI has completed a deal that values the company at $80 billion or more. This is almost three times higher than it was 10 months ago. This is reported by The New York Times, citing knowledgeable sources.

According to them, it is a sale of existing shares as part of a so-called tender offer led by the venture firm Thrive Capital.

The agreement allows employees to receive cash for their shares in the company instead of a traditional financing round.

Earlier this year, OpenAI agreed to a similar deal. Venture capital firms Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and K2 Global agreed to buy OpenAI shares in a tender offer, valuing the company at about $29 billion.

Investors are known to be eager to invest in AI companies. Last January, Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI, bringing its total investment in the San Francisco-based startup to $13 billion.

According to CB Insights, OpenAI is now one of the most expensive tech startups in the world, second only to ByteDance and SpaceX.