OpenAI, the developer behind the revolutionary artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT, is in exciting discussions to raise capital at a valuation of almost $30bn. This is a testament to the success of the viral technology, and venture capitalists are eager to get involved. The San Francisco-based company is reportedly in talks with investment groups including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund to carry out a tender offer of existing shares, in which investors would purchase OpenAI shares from current shareholders.
This would mark a surge in the company’s valuation from about $20bn in 2021, when it was valued during a secondary share sale. Such a rise would make OpenAI an outlier in Silicon Valley, as many tech companies have had to brace for big cuts to their values and investors have pulled back from new deals.
Less than a month after OpenAI released its GPT-3.5 software, talks have begun about a potential tender offer. The chatbot, which can converse with users through text and images, has been a huge success, quickly surpassing 1 million users in just five days. Although discussions are ongoing and the value of the deal has yet to be finalised, the potential offer is exciting news.
The tech industry has been hit hard in recent months, with many start-ups forced to implement aggressive cost-cutting measures due to a stock market rout and funding crunch. According to PitchBook, the value of venture capital acquisition deals dropped to $763 million in the last three months of 2022, the first time it has been under $1 billion in more than a decade. Despite this, OpenAI’s potential tender offer is a sign of hope for the industry.
