OpenAI gets $1.5 billion investment from SoftBank in tender offer

Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, during an event in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, June 9, 2023.
OpenAI is allowing employees to sell roughly $1.5 billion worth of shares in a new tender offer to SoftBank, CNBC has learned.
The new financing will allow the Japanese tech conglomerate to get an even larger slice of the AI startup, and it will allow current and former OpenAI employees to cash out their shares, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
The new tender offer, which has not been previously reported, is set to close this week, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal was spurred by SoftBank billionaire founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who was persistent in asking for a larger stake in the startup after putting $500 million into OpenAI’s last funding round, a person familiar with the matter said.
The tender offer is not related to OpenAI’s potential plans to restructure the firm to a for-profit business, one of the people said.
OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment.
The news underscores Son’s interest in the AI space and in backing the most valuable private players. SoftBank was an early investor in Arm, and Son said at a recent conference that he’s saving