OpenAI, a high-profile artificial intelligence (AI) research lab and a startup behind ChatGPT, reportedly sold more shares than previously thought in its recent tender offer, according to SEC filings and two sources familiar with the deal. The sale, which was conducted through a Delaware-based shell company called Aestas Management Company, raised $495 million, much higher than the previously reported amount of $300 million.
The offering was marketed to 40 accredited investors including venture capitalists such as Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Founder’s Fund, with most of the money from the sale reportedly going directly into the pockets of OpenAI’s employees. Existing investor Tiger Global was not part of the sale. Meanwhile, the sale of OpenAI’s shares valued the company between $27 and $29 billion.
The tender offer came as Silicon Valley investors jumped at the opportunity to get a stake in OpenAI, a star of the tech landscape during a period of plummeting valuations. The funds raised in the offering would be separate from the $10 billion Microsoft reportedly invested in OpenAI back in January, as well as the $175 million venture fund the company launched to invest in other startups.
The company managing the sale was Aestas Management Company, a shell corporation set up by OpenAI itself. The company, which has the Latin word for ‘summer’ as its name, was created on April 10, 2023 and has its official address at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters. A single person, Jason Kwon, who also works as OpenAI’s general counsel, stands at the helm of Aestas.
OpenAI, launched in 2015, is a research laboratory based in San Francisco with the mission of advancing “human-level” artificial intelligence, its main goal being to ensure AI technology benefits humanity as it develops and becomes more widespread. It counts industry giants such as Microsoft, Y Combinator, and AWS as its partners, and has contributed significantly to the advancement of AI and machine learning, with its researchers having achieved world-firsts including the development of an AI network that can construct the meaning of sentences and the creation of an AI agent that can beat the world’s top video game players. As AI continues to reshape our world, OpenAI is sure to be at the forefront of the industry’s development.
