OpenAI revises controversial stock sale policies, ensures equal treatment for current and former employees.

• CNBC has learned that OpenAI has updated its policies on secondary share sales, enabling current and former employees to participate equally in its annual tender offers.
• OpenAI stated in shared documents that all current and former staffers will have the same sales limit and be able to participate simultaneously.
• Recently, tender offers have become a highly sensitive topic due to OpenAI's rapidly increasing valuation and the current sluggish IPO market.

CNBC has learned that OpenAI has changed its policies regarding secondary share sales, allowing current and former employees to participate equally in annual tender offers.

Earlier this month, CNBC reported that the artificial intelligence startup had a restrictive approach in the past, which allowed the company to decide who could participate in stock sales. This led to concerns among shareholders about their ability to obtain liquidity for the millions of dollars worth of equity they owned.

OpenAI's equity administration software was used to share a document last week, which revealed that the company had changed its policy. The new policy states that "all sellers (current and former service providers) will have the same sales limit." Service providers include employees and advisors, OpenAI clarified in the document, which was viewed by CNBC.

An OpenAI spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Due to OpenAI's recent skyrocketing valuation and the dormant IPO market, tender offers have become a sensitive topic. With no public offering in sight and a prohibitively expensive price tag, secondary stock sales are the only way for shareholders to profit in the near future.

Reports that OpenAI had the power to claw back vested equity caused concern among current and former employees, who previously expressed this to CNBC. The company, backed by roughly $13 billion from Microsoft, has been valued at over $80 billion.

Former employees typically experienced secondary sales months after transactions for current staffers, with sales limits differing significantly. In at least two tender offers, the limit for former employees was $2 million, while current employees had a limit of $10 million.

The provision that some feared would allow the company to forcibly repurchase shares at its "sole and absolute discretion" for the "fair market value" has been walked back in the change announced last week. Previous documents stated that "the Company may, at any time and in its sole and absolute discretion, redeem (or cause the sale of) the Company interest of any Assignee for cash equal to the Fair Market Value of such interest."

OpenAI has announced that it will not enforce any equity redemption provisions in employee equity documents and will revise its documents to reflect this change.

The internal document stated that former employees who now work at competitors will no longer be excluded from official tender offers and will be included in the same category as other former employees.

If a future tender offer is oversubscribed, OpenAI will prioritize giving liquidity to current service providers over former service providers, potentially resulting in a cutback for those no longer at the company.

OpenAI has addressed employee concerns by providing a detailed document on its tender process and equity purchases.

OpenAI has reversed its decision to require former employees to sign a non-disparagement agreement that would never expire in exchange for keeping their vested equity in the company.

The latest change by OpenAI did not address the issue of employee equity. Previously, the company allowed current employees to donate a portion of their vested equity to charity during "donation rounds," which provided tax benefits. However, former employees were excluded as the donation rounds were only offered to active employees and were not guaranteed to occur, according to messages viewed by CNBC earlier this month. The new document did not specify whether the policy is still in effect.

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