OpenAI in deal talks that would value the company at $500 billion
SAN FRANCISCO (NYT) — OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is in talks to sell $6 billion in shares owned by its current and former employees to investors, in a deal that would value the artificial intelligence company at roughly $500 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
At $500 billion, OpenAI would become the world’s most valuable privately held company, according to data from startup tracker CB Insights. The San Francisco-based AI lab has raised billions of dollars in recent years from investors including Microsoft, SoftBank and venture capital firms as it has raced to take the lead in the contest over artificial intelligence.
OpenAI has seen its valuation repeatedly jump higher, from $157 billion in October to $300 billion in March. That month, the company reached an agreement with SoftBank and other investors for a new funding, which was set to raise $40 billion by the end of the year.
In this latest deal, known as a secondary market sale, OpenAI’s current and former employees would agree to sell company shares to SoftBank, Thrive Capital and its other investors, the people with knowledge of the discussions said. The talks over the transaction are ongoing, and the particulars could change.
The discussions over a secondary market sale were earlier reported by Bloomberg.
Across Silicon Valley, AI companies have been deluged by investor interest amid an escalation in the race over the technology. Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and OpenAI are spending billions to hire AI researchers to advance the technology, as well as building out data centers and other infrastructure to power the development of AI.
Attacker stabs Colorado ranger and flees, setting of manhunt
(NYT) — An attacker stabbed a wildlife ranger at a Colorado state park outside Denver on Tuesday morning and ran away, setting off a search and leading officials to evacuate the park, authorities said.
The ranger, who was working at Staunton State Park at the time, was airlifted to an area hospital with serious injuries and a stab wound to his abdomen, said Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The agency did not identify the ranger, who it said was expected to survive.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said it believed the attack, which occurred around 9:30 a.m., was targeted. It did not say what had led to the stabbing, which prompted authorities to close the park.
Investigators said that they were searching the area by ground and by air for the attacker, whom they described as a white man in his early 30s with brown hair, standing about 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans.
Around 5 p.m., the sheriff’s office lifted a shelter-in-place order for the area around the park and said that people were allowed to return to their homes.
The ranger who was stabbed was unarmed and is a seasonal employee, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which said that those types of rangers can write citations or tickets for violations of park rules but cannot make arrests.
Staunton State Park, which is about 40 miles southwest of Denver, covers nearly 4,000 acres and includes 37 miles of trails. It has 25 campsites and 25 picnic sites. A visitors page for the park says that it offers “diverse landscapes, ranging from grassy meadows at 8,100 feet to granite cliffs over 10,000 feet.”