OpenAI in talks to sell around $6 billion in stock at roughly $500 billion valuation

OpenAI is gearing up for a significant stock sale, looking to offload approximately $6 billion in shares that could push its valuation to around $500 billion, as confirmed by CNBC. This secondary sale will involve current and former employees selling their stakes to major investors, including SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Thrive Capital. The negotiations are still in the preliminary stages, and specifics may evolve as discussions progress. Bloomberg was the first to report on these negotiations, highlighting that Thrive Capital might take the lead in this funding round, which involves existing investors in OpenAI. Requests for comment from SoftBank, Dragoneer, and Thrive Capital have not yet been addressed. Since the launch of its generative AI chatbot ChatGPT in late 2022, OpenAI's valuation has skyrocketed. Earlier this year, the company announced a staggering $40 billion funding round at a $300 billion valuation, marking a record for private tech firms. Just recently, OpenAI secured an additional $8.3 billion tied to that funding round. In the past week, OpenAI unveiled GPT-5, its latest and most advanced AI model, which promises enhanced intelligence, speed, and utility across various sectors, including writing, coding, and healthcare. However, the rollout has faced challenges, with some users expressing dissatisfaction over the loss of access to previous models. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, acknowledged this issue, admitting that they underestimated the importance of certain features in GPT-4 for users, despite GPT-5's overall superior performance.