OpenAI completed a tender offer letting employees sell about $7 billion in shares back to the company, funding the buyback itself instead of bringing in outside investors, TechCrunch reported.
The deal values OpenAI at $852 billion, unchanged from the company's most recent funding round in March, when it raised $122 billion, according to TechCrunch. Unlike earlier OpenAI tender offers that brought in investors such as Thrive Capital and SoftBank, TechCrunch reported, this one used only OpenAI's own money.
OpenAI confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June for a possible initial public offering later this year, TechCrunch reported. A privately funded tender offer lets employees cash out without the company needing to go public, and TechCrunch said the deal suggests an IPO may not be imminent.
CEO Sam Altman had acknowledged the company "did not have our best 12 months ever," after OpenAI reportedly missed internal financial targets in April, TechCrunch reported. Altman said he expects the company is "about to have our best 12 months to date."
Rival Anthropic reportedly reached profitability earlier this year and has surpassed OpenAI in valuation, adding pressure on timing for any OpenAI listing, according to TechCrunch.
For builders watching OpenAI's trajectory, a self-funded buyback is a signal the company can keep employees financially whole without opening its cap table to new outside money or facing public market scrutiny. That buys OpenAI more time to pick its own moment to go public, on its own terms.