SoftBank is planning to buy up to $1.5bn worth of stock in OpenAI to bolster its position in the $150bn artificial intelligence company as Masayoshi Son seeks to position the Japanese group as an artificial intelligence leader. SoftBank will buy the shares through a tender offer, a mechanism which allows current and former OpenAI employees who have held their stock for more than two years to sell, according to two people familiar with the situation. The deal is set to close early next year. The tender offer, first reported by CNBC, prices employee stock according to OpenAI’s last funding round, which was completed last month. That $6.6bn fundraise valued the company at $150bn. SoftBank’s second Vision Fund, its tech-heavy investment vehicle, invested $500mn in the company during that round. The same fund, in which Son has a substantial stake, is also buying the $1.5bn in shares. AI start-ups have raised tens of billions in debt and equity this year, as investors look past eye-watering valuations for lossmaking companies to make bets on the technology. Elon Musk is expected to close a $5bn funding round for his AI start-up xAI this week, to value the year-old group at $45bn, while OpenAI’s valuation has nearly doubled this year. Last week, rival Anthropic received a second $4bn investment from Amazon.

Full report : OpenAI gets new $1.5 billion investment from SoftBank, allowing employees to sell shares in a tender offer.