OpenAI employees eye $6B stock sale with SoftBank, Thrive in talks
Investors, including SoftBank Group, Thrive Capital, and Dragoneer Investment Group, are in discussions to participate.
The deal, still at an early stage, would mark a sharp jump from OpenAI's current $300 billion valuation and underscores the company's explosive growth and the competition in artificial intelligence to secure talent and capital. Bloomberg News first reported the talks, noting that the final size of the sale could change.
SoftBank, Thrive, and Dragoneer — all existing OpenAI investors — did not respond to requests for comment.
The potential sale comes as SoftBank is already leading OpenAI's $40 billion primary funding round. A secondary offering would provide liquidity to employees while strengthening investor positions in one of the sector's most closely watched firms.
OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, has seen its business accelerate dramatically thanks to its flagship ChatGPT product. The company doubled revenue in the first seven months of the year, hitting an annualized run rate of $12 billion, Reuters reported earlier in August, and is expected to reach $20 billion by year's end.
Its user base has also surged: ChatGPT now has about 700 million weekly active users, up from roughly 400 million in February.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
10 minutes ago
- CTV News
The U.S. navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well
A newly released Sea Baby drone "Avdiivka" rides on the water during the presentation by Ukraine's Security Service in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) During a U.S. naval test off the California coast last month, which was designed to showcase the Pentagon's top autonomous drone boats, one vessel stalled unexpectedly. As officials scrambled to fix a software glitch, another drone vessel smashed into the idling boat's starboard side, vaulted over the deck, and crashed back into the water – an incident captured in videos obtained by Reuters. The previously unreported episode, which involved two vessels built by U.S. defense tech rivals Saronic and BlackSea Technologies, is one of a series of recent setbacks in the Pentagon's push to build a fleet of autonomous vessels, according to a dozen people familiar with the program. Weeks earlier, during a separate navy test, the captain of a support boat was thrown into the water after another autonomous BlackSea vessel it was towing suddenly accelerated, capsizing the support boat, according to four people familiar with the matter. The captain was rescued and declined medical attention. The incident was first reported by Defense Scoop. Both incidents stemmed from a combination of software failures and human error, including breakdowns in communication between onboard systems and external autonomous software, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity to share sensitive information. The navy, Saronic and BlackSea declined to comment on the incidents. U.S. military leaders, seeing the outsized impact of maritime drones in the Ukraine war, have repeatedly said they need autonomous swarms of aerial and maritime drones to hinder a potential advance by China across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan itself has begun acquiring its own maritime drones. The drones being developed in Ukraine, which often look like speedboats without seats, and are capable of carrying weapons, explosives and surveillance equipment, are primarily remote-controlled and cost close to US$250,000 – making them optimal for kamikaze missions that have effectively neutralized Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The U.S., meanwhile, is aiming to build an autonomous naval fleet that can move in swarms and without human command – a more ambitious task at a higher price point; as much as a few million dollars per speedboat. The recent test failures highlight the challenges facing the navy's effort to deploy the nascent technologies, said Bryan Clark, an autonomous warfare expert at the Hudson Institute. It will need to adapt its 'tactics as it better understands what the systems can do and what they can't do.' But the navy's problems go beyond getting the boats to work: its autonomous maritime drone acquisition unit has also been rocked by the firing of its top admiral, and a top Pentagon official voiced concerns about the program in a candid meeting with navy brass last month, Reuters found. Since the most recent incident, the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which had acquired technology for the tests, has indefinitely paused a contract – valued close to $20 million – with L3Harris, one of the companies providing autonomous software used to control some of the vessels, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the cause of the accidents or the L3Harris contract being paused, which has not been previously reported. A Pentagon spokesperson said it conducted drone tests as part of a 'competitive and iterative approach, between operators and industry.' L3Harris declined to comment on the contract and directed questions to the DIU. The DIU declined to comment. 'L3Harris stands behind the safety, integrity and capability of our autonomy command-and-control product,' said Toby Magsig, who oversees L3Harris' autonomous software products. Rise of sea drones To accelerate its drone effort, the Pentagon in 2023 launched the $1 billion Replicator program, through which branches like the U.S. navy and the DIU planned to acquire thousands of aerial and maritime drones, along with the software to control them. The first systems from this program are due to be announced this month. The navy has committed at least $160 million to BlackSea, which is producing dozens of its Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft boats a month, according to procurement records. Saronic, which was recently valued at $4 billion in a funding round backed by Andreessen Horowitz and 8VC, makes the competitive sea drone Corsair, but is yet to announce a major contract. Federal procurement records show the company has generated at least $20 million from prototype agreements. 'These systems will play a critical role in the future of naval warfare by extending fleet reach, improving situational awareness, and increasing combat effectiveness,' acting chief of naval operations Jim Kilby said during a visit to BlackSea's facility in June. Navy turmoil Since returning to office, U.S. President Donald Trump has made fielding swarms of drones a top military priority. Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed last month included almost $5 billion for maritime autonomous systems. But, so far, the navy's approach has faced skepticism under the new administration. In April, the navy's key drone boat procurement unit – known as Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) – touted a successful demonstration of the software used to control BlackSea's vessels in a post on LinkedIn, hailing it as 'a major step forward in advancing #maritime autonomy.' In response, Colin Carrol, then-chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steven Feinberg, suggested the program was duplicating other efforts within the Pentagon. 'I have a feeling that there are changes in this program's future,' he replied to the LinkedIn post. Carrol, who is no longer with the Pentagon, declined to comment further. The PEO USC was recently placed under review, according to four people familiar with the matter, due to a series of setbacks, and could be restructured or shut down. This comes two months after the navy said it had sacked the unit's leader, Rear Admiral Kevin Smith, due to a loss of confidence in his leadership after the Naval Inspector General substantiated a complaint against him. Reuters was unable to contact Smith. During a meeting last month, Feinberg grilled navy officials about their autonomous vessel capabilities, including those being fielded by the PEO USC, according to three people briefed on the meeting. Feinberg was unimpressed by some of the capabilities being acquired by the navy and questioned whether they were cost-effective, the people said. A Pentagon spokesperson said, 'we're not going to comment on private internal meetings' and directed questions about PEO USC to the navy. The navy declined to comment on the meeting or the acquisition unit being put under review. Spokesperson Timothy Hawkins said the PEO USC stands by its mission, including its role as acquisition authority for the maintenance and modernization of unmanned maritime systems. The turmoil comes as shipbuilders and software providers are angling to secure even larger autonomous maritime projects, such as unmanned submarines and cargo-carrying ships. Last week, the PEO USC started accepting proposals for the Modular Attack Surface Craft, to acquire medium and large vessels capable of carrying containers, surveillance equipment, and conducting strikes. T.X. Hammes, an autonomous weapons expert and Atlantic Council fellow, said the navy is in uncharted waters, trying to overhaul decades of tradition at high speed. 'You've got a system that's used to building big things, taking years to make a decision, and now suddenly you're asking them to move fast,' he said. (Reporting by David Jeans; Editing by Joe Brock, Michael Learmonth and Anna Driver)
The Market Online
33 minutes ago
- The Market Online
Gold Report: Strategic investment stories
Headwater Gold (CSE:HWG) is raising up to C$1 million through a non-brokered private placement, including commitments from Jeff Phillips, President of Global Market Development, and Rick Rule, the world-renown billionaire mining investor and speculator. Click here for the full story. This content has been prepared as part of a partnership with Headwater Gold Inc., Norsemont Mining Inc., Galleon Gold Corp. and SKRR Exploration Inc., and is intended for informational purposes only. By the ounce At the time of writing on Wednesday, the price of gold was US$3,371.60, down from US$3,399.70 per ounce in our August 13th report – according to data from The Globe and Mail – with investors hoping for actionable insights from U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell when he unveils a new policy framework at the Kansas City Federal Reserve's annual Economic Policy Symposium, which kicks off on Thursday. This week in gold Rick Rule's latest portfolio top-up wasn't the only notable gold investment to hit the wire this week, with two miners and another high-profile individual investor putting money to work. Rob McEwen, chairman of McEwen Mining (TSX:MUX), made the lead order in a C$1.392 million financing tranche for Norsemont Mining (CSE:NOM), a junior gold explorer with a flagship project housing 2,184,000 gold equivalent ounces indicated and 557,000 gold equivalent ounces inferred. Global gold and silver producer Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS) invested C$8 million into Galleon Gold (TSXV:GGO), a junior miner advancing a preliminary economic assessment-stage project in Timmins, Ontario, with an indicated and inferred resource of more than 1.5 million ounces of gold. SKRR Exploration (TSXV:SKRR), historically focused on Saskatchewan, completed a reverse takeover of Kenz Global Resources, a private explorer with significant assets in Saudi Arabia. This includes a majority interest in the 99-square-kilometre AM ARTI gold project, where favorable geology within the prolific Arabian–Nubian Shield adds conviction to potential mineralization. Top trending gold stocks Join the discussion: Find out what everybody's saying about the strategic investment stories in this week's gold report on Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards. Stockhouse does not provide investment advice or recommendations. All investment decisions should be made based on your own research and consultation with a registered investment professional. The issuer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information contained herein. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Dayforce in advanced talks for $70-per-share buyout by Thoma Bravo
HR software firm Dayforce DAY-T said on Wednesday it was in advanced discussions to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $70 per share, as private equity firms look to software as growth drivers in an uncertain economy. Dayforce's shares rose more than 3 per cent before the bell. The offer represents a premium of 32.4 per cent based on the stock's closing price on August 15, before the talks were first reported, and a deal value of $11.18-billion, according to Reuters calculations. If finalized, the deal will mark another private equity buyout of a software firm, with Thoma Bravo betting on the build-out of artificial-intelligence software and the resilience of recurring revenue in an economy pressured by trade tariffs and erratic spending. The human capital management market has undergone significant consolidation, with big players buying up smaller firms to bolster their products and grab market share amid signs of a deteriorating labor market. Paychex announced its acquisition of rival Paycor for $4.1-billion at the start of the year, while Automatic Data Processing acquired WorkForce Software last year for around $1.2-billion. Dayforce said there could be no assurances of whether an agreement for a transaction would be reached. The company, which provides human capital management and payroll services through its software platform, has seen its stock lose more than 9 per cent of its value so far this year, underperforming peers.
