The world's most powerful unicorn is born! OpenAI is said to be selling $6 billion in employee shares, with a valuation of $500 billion.

According to sources familiar with the matter, current and former employees of OpenAI plan to sell approximately $6 billion worth of stocks to an investing group consisting of Thrive Capital, SoftBank, and Dragoneer. This transaction will increase the valuation of this ChatGPT manufacturer to $500 billion. The above-mentioned sources stated that the negotiations are still in the early stages, and the scope of the stock sale may still change. In addition, SoftBank has also committed to leading a $40 billion financing plan for OpenAI, which will bring OpenAI's valuation to $300 billion. According to another source familiar with the deal, this fundraising round is still ongoing, and OpenAI recently received $8.3 billion in funding from an investor consortium. This second stock sale will provide an opportunity for OpenAI employees to earn substantial income, as they face significant salary pressure in the competitive artificial intelligence industry. Companies like Meta (META.US) are offering high salaries to lure artificial intelligence talents away from OpenAI and other startups. This year, several OpenAI employees have already moved to Meta, including Shengjia Zhao, co-founder of ChatGPT. Allowing employees to sell shares is an important way for startups to retain top talent without having to go public or be acquired. In some cases, early investors may also reduce their holdings through such transactions, but according to a source, OpenAI's investors are not eligible to do so in this round of transactions. Current and former employees who have worked at the company for at least two years can participate. Through participating in this stock sale and various previous commitments, SoftBank is placing high hopes on the success of OpenAI. In addition to these transactions, this Japanese conglomerate led by Masayoshi Son recently completed a $1 billion acquisition of OpenAI employee shares at a valuation of $300 billion, according to a source. They stated that negotiations for this transaction had begun before discussions around a $500 billion secondary valuation. A valuation of $500 billion would make OpenAI the world's most valuable startup, surpassing Elon Musk's SpaceX. The company expects its revenue to double this year, reaching $12.7 billion, and to reach $37 billion in 2024. The follow-up transaction negotiations are taking place after the highly anticipated release of the GPT-5 model. This week, OpenAI CEO Sam IAT Automobile Technology Mann spoke with a group of journalists and outlined the company's vision, including plans to invest trillions of dollars in the near future to build the infrastructure needed to operate artificial intelligence services.