DailySun
Employees at OpenAI will be able to cash in on shares of the company valued at $1.5 billion as part of an investment agreement with SoftBank.
SoftBank, a multinational investment firm based in Japan, is backing the leading artificial intelligence (AI) firm OpenAI with a $1.5 billion investment. This arrangement will enable employees to profit by selling their shares.
By engaging in these corporate maneuvers, SoftBank will increase its ownership stake in OpenAI, a request that CEO Masayoshi Son has voiced for some time.
OpenAI employees with shares will have until December 24 to make their decisions. If they choose to participate, they could gain approximately $210 per share, based on the latest funding round.
Both current and former employees are eligible to take part in the funding, but only those who received restrictions and have held their shares for a minimum of two years.
OpenAI, which has operated as a non-profit organization for the last decade, denies any connection between this funding and its recent strategic shift toward profit-making ventures.
SoftBank Funding for Emerging Technologies
As reported by CNBC on November 27, OpenAI’s $1.5 billion investment is sourced from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.
This capital is earmarked for investments in emerging technologies and firms, including Nvidia, Uber, Exscientia, Glean, Perplexity, and Poolside. Through this investment, the Tokyo-based company aims to broaden its focus on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 (SVF2) was launched in 2019 and has garnered investment commitments totaling up to $56 billion. By 2021, the fund had invested in over 250 companies, primarily in new ventures.
Currently, the funding is concentrated on accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence and supporting market leaders and companies valued above $1 billion, often referred to as unicorns.
