SoftBank will increase its investment in OpenAI, responsible for ChatGPT, by $1.5 billion

As an investment conglomerate, the company operates in broadband, fixed line telecommunications, e-commerce, information technology, finance, media and marketing, among other areas. SoftBank Corporation, its subsidiary, is the tJapan’s third largest wireless service providerwith 45,621 million subscribers as of March 2021. Regarding its position within the business world, according to Forbes in 2017 SoftBank was the 36th largest public company in the worldand the second largest in Japan, only behind Toyota.

As reported by the American network ‘CNBC‘, OpenAI would have allowed its employees to sell to SoftBank approximately $1.5 billion in shares. The deadline that OpenAI transfers to workers is December 24. The sources clarify that the offer would have been promoted by the billionaire, founder and CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Sona prominent figure in the global financial world, implicated in the Panama Papers scandal.

Son would have insisted on asking for a larger stake in OpenAI, after investing 500 million dollars in the company’s latest financing round. In this way, the Japanese firm would strengthen its position in the AI ​​startup, while current and former OpenAI employees will be able to monetize their shares, according to reports ‘CNBC‘.

According to the economic media ‘Financial Times’the takeover would price employee shares similar to OpenAI’s last funding round, which completed last month and achieved 6.6 billion dollarssetting the company’s final valuation at $150 billion.

Thanks to the additional investment proposed by its CEO, SoftBank would become one of the largest sponsors of OpenAI, along with Thrive Capital, Tiger Global, Altimeter Capital, Coatue Management and MGX. However, it is Microsoft who occupies the position of OpenAI’s most important partner, with an estimated investment of $13 billion.