OpenAI has completed a deal to help employees sell shares in the company at a $500 billion valuation, propelling the ChatGPT owner past Elon Musk’s SpaceX to become the world’s largest startup. Current and former OpenAI employees sold about $6.6 billion of stock to investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group Corp., Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, a person familiar with the transaction said. That boosted the US company’s price tag well past its previous $300 billion level during a SoftBank-led financing round earlier this year. That rapid rise underscores the investment frenzy surrounding the leaders of a technology with the potential to transform industries and economies. Sam Altman’s OpenAI is one of several companies including Nvidia Corp. now leading a global push to build data centers and develop artificial intelligence services, an undertaking that’s expected to cost trillions of dollars. Though it has yet to turn a profit, the US startup is helping fuel that infrastructure boom by inking mega-sized deals with the likes of Oracle Corp. and SK Hynix Inc.

Full report : OpenAI completed a secondary share sale that let staff sell more than $6.6 billion at a $500 billion valuation, making it the world’s most valuable startup, ahead of SpaceX.