SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 is offering to buy $1.5 billion in OpenAI shares from employees at $210 per unit, matching OpenAI's $157 billion valuation. Employees have until December 24 to decide.
Why it matters: This major investment deepens SoftBank's stake in OpenAI and gives employees a rare chance to cash out in a frozen IPO market.
Between the lines: The deal reflects Masayoshi Son's aggressive push into AI. The SoftBank CEO has been "persistent in asking for a larger stake" after his initial $500 million investment, according to a person familiar with the matter.
By the numbers:
- OpenAI expects $3.7 billion in revenue this year
- But also projects $5 billion in losses
- The company has raised about $13 billion from Microsoft
- Recent funding round brought in $6.6 billion
Zoom in: OpenAI now allows current and former employees to participate equally in annual tender offers which helps address previous concerns about liquidity access.
Zoom out: This latest move is part of a broader investment spree by SoftBank, which recently bet on other AI startups like Glean and Perplexity. AI has become the main event in the tech world, and business spending on generative AI alone surged 500% this year, with projections suggesting the market could top $1 trillion in revenue within a decade.
What's next: OpenAI expects to facilitate more secondary sales and will likely tap private markets again, given investor demand and the capital-intensive nature of AI development, according to a person familiar with the tender offer.
The bottom line: SoftBank's investment signals strong institutional faith in AI's future, while providing OpenAI's workforce with a valuable liquidity option in an uncertain market.