Discussions are just beginning. Earlier this year, OpenAI raised funds, based on a valuation of $300bn. In just a few months, the company is therefore aiming for a 66% increase. All said, it's a logical move, given the meteoric growth of ChatGPT, which has grown from 400 million to 700 million weekly users since February (+75%). Last October, the group was valued at $150bn after a round of funding.
However, there is no rush to go public. In May, the CFO warned that it would only happen when the company and the markets are ready.
In the meantime, the battle to recruit the best talent is raging in Silicon Valley. OpenAI has already seen some researchers leave for Meta, where Mark Zuckerberg himself is leading the recruitment drive and offering spectacular salaries. His biggest splurge was the acquisition of 49% of Scale AI for $14.8bn, which also brought in its CEO, Alexandr Wang.
To retain its talent, OpenAI is opting for a strategy common in unlisted tech companies: offering shares through a private sale. ByteDance, Databricks, and Ramp have already used this process to reward their long-standing employees. In concrete terms, this would involve a secondary sale of shares by current or former employees to new ones. If the IPO is successful, the investment could be worth billions to the beneficiaries.
