OpenAI is near selling shares in a deal that values the corporate at a staggering $90 billion – but completing the offer could depend upon deep-pocketed investors from the Middle East, On The Money has learned.
The unreal-intelligence juggernaut behind the ChatGPT chatbot – co-founded by Sam Altman and 49% owned by Microsoft – is in talks to assist its employees money out of tens of tens of millions of dollars price of personal stock in a young offer that’s expected to shut Oct. 21, in keeping with sources briefed on the situation.
“There may be quite a lot of overseas demand… some from The Gulf,” one well-placed source told The Post’s Josh Kosman.
Nevertheless, the outlook for other such pricey tech deals looks murky, in keeping with sources. That’s because US investors seem like balking at OpenAI’s stratospheric price tag – and the terrorist attacks in Israel could complicate latest fundraising from sovereign wealth funds across the Persian Gulf, sources added.
“The actual fact the Saudis have remained silent concerning the conflict means anyone taking money goes to think long and hard before they take one other political dollar,” a source who raised money within the region said.
![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Screenshot-2023-10-12-at-4.44.47-PM.png)
Indeed, insiders say query marks are popping up across the seventh annual Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which shall be hosted by the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund Oct. 24 – Oct. 26.
Attendance slumped following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, but has flourished since. Last yr, one panel included JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman CEO David Solomon, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio.
One financial source said it’s “too early to inform if there’s a long-term impact” from the Hamas attacks. But top leaders shall be forced to make a call about whether to go to the region before the top of the month.
“It further complicates the geopolitical situation: We’re waiting to see how countries react… after which firms will react to those countries,” one other insider added.
While some weigh the optics of a fundraising trip to the Middle East, others feel that given economic conditions within the US they don’t have much alternative.
“Valuations are falling through the ground,” a source lamented. “There are such a lot of down rounds now and it’s tough to get low cost capital anywhere else.”
Others are more optimistic and consider that — like with Khashoggi’s killing — even when the violence dampens deals within the short term, it can be business as usual soon enough.
“There may be an inclination to overlook transgressions when money is involved,” one other source added. “So long as there may be money available people will attempt to get it.”
OpenAI didn’t return calls for comment.