OpenAI employees have been given the opportunity to sell $1.5 billion worth of company shares as part of a new tender offer from the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group. According to sources, the offer is valid until December 24, and the share price aligns with the valuation from the previous funding round completed in October.

In the last round, SoftBank invested $500 million, contributing to OpenAI’s $6.6 billion funding at a total valuation of $157 billion. The funds for this transaction will come through Vision Fund 2.

Masayoshi Son, the head of SoftBank, aims to strengthen his company’s position in the field of artificial intelligence. Earlier, he stated that he is preparing for “the next big move” without disclosing further details of his plans.

Since the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popularity has skyrocketed. The product has attracted 250 million weekly active users, reaffirming the company’s leadership in the field of artificial intelligence.