OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT , has reached a valuation of $500 billion, following a deal in which current and former employees sold roughly $6.6 billion worth of shares, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

This represents a bump-up from its current valuation of $300 billion, underscoring OpenAI’s rapid gains in both users and revenue. Reuters reported details of the stock sale earlier in August.

OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of investors:

As part of the deal, OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The compan

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