OpenAI has been in the news lots lately, yet one aspect of its story gets unreported. OpenAI is in talks to strike a deal involving employee shares that would boost its value to $80 billion. That would make OpenAI the third most valuable private company in the world. Yet, what merits that valuation?
Even open-source free AI is snapping at its heels. It has no hold over AI technology, which looks to become widely distributed - not in the hands of a few. Is the brand & its employees really worth $80 billion? Somehow all the hype around OpenAI seems all about the money, and not the actual business, which is nowhere near as remarkable or special as all the hype would have you believe.
Still, we should be glad all this investor money is flowing to AI - it is probably accelerating its development, and everyone will benefit from that ultimately.