OpenAI has significantly expanded its secondary stock sale program to over $10 billion.

According to sources familiar with the matter on September 3rd, OpenAI is expanding its secondary stock sale by more than $4 billion, offering eligible current and former employees the opportunity to sell approximately $10.3 billion worth of shares, substantially higher than the initial $6 billion target.

Sources indicate that this sale will be conducted at a $500 billion valuation, meeting market expectations. OpenAI presented this offer to employees on Wednesday. Employees who have held shares for more than two years must decide whether to participate by the end of September, with the transaction expected to complete in October.

The investors participating in this round include SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, Abu Dhabi's MGX, and T. Rowe Price Group. Thrive Capital and T. Rowe Price declined to comment, while other companies have not yet responded.

Previously, tech companies like SpaceX and Stripe have also helped employees lock in gains through secondary stock sales. In November last year, OpenAI allowed employees to sell approximately $1.5 billion worth of stock through SoftBank's equity acquisition offer. Additionally, OpenAI announced a $1.5 million bonus for all employees, including new hires, to stabilize its core team and retain top talent.

In mid-August, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar confirmed on a program that OpenAI would consider going public at some point in the future.

She stated that OpenAI's biggest challenge is the shortage of computing power. "AI has an insatiable appetite for GPUs and computing power, and we are continuously in a state of tight computing supply." She noted that the current AI boom is more like a "foundational infrastructure building phase" similar to railways or power grids, rather than a temporary bubble.

Previously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also indicated that OpenAI needs larger-scale GPUs to expand its business, and the shortage of computing power prevents the company from providing better models it has developed.

In late August, it was reported that Altman would hand over most of OpenAI's daily operations to Fidji Simo, who was appointed as CEO of application business in May. Altman stated he cannot simultaneously manage four major projects: consumer technology, super infrastructure, frontier research, and novel projects. He will step back from daily affairs to focus on raising trillion-dollar funding for the company, advancing super-computing projects, and incubating independent brain-computer interface (BCI) startups, while consumer technology business represented by ChatGPT will be handed over to Simo.

Notably, OpenAI has planned to build an AI data center in India with power consumption exceeding 1GW. Sources reveal that OpenAI is in preliminary discussions with potential Indian partners regarding this plan, though the project location has not been finalized and the timeline remains unclear. However, Altman's visit to India later this month may reveal more details.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is accelerating its capability expansion through acquisitions.

On September 2nd, OpenAI announced the acquisition of product development startup Statsig for $1.1 billion. Statsig helps OpenAI and other companies test features and use real-time data in operations. Statsig will continue operating independently, and as part of the acquisition, Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji will join OpenAI as head of technology for the applications division, reporting to Simo.

Recently, OpenAI has been active in acquisitions. In May, it acquired AI hardware company io, founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in an all-stock transaction worth nearly $6.5 billion. In 2024, it also acquired analytics database company Rockset (amount undisclosed). Earlier this year, OpenAI planned to acquire AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3 billion, but the deal fell through (Google ultimately acquired it through a $2.4 billion licensing agreement). Altman has even expressed interest in acquiring Google Chrome.

In terms of business growth, OpenAI shows strong momentum.

On September 4th, Altman revealed that OpenAI's AI programming tool Codex usage has grown approximately 10-fold over the past two weeks. According to previously disclosed data, approximately 700 million people use ChatGPT weekly. OpenAI expects revenue to more than triple this year to $12.7 billion, and to more than double next year to $29.4 billion.