OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman sent money to startup to survive SVB fall-out, report says

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OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman is among several tech executives who are providing financial support to struggling startups that are facing difficulties paying their employees and staying afloat after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. The company behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot is among the fastest growing startups due to the recent boom in artificial intelligence.

Doktor Gurson, CEO of Rad AI, stated that Altman responded to his email within a couple of hours with an offer of at least six figures in emergency funds to help him pay his employees. Altman’s only request was that Gurson pay him back when he is able to do so.

On Saturday, Altman’s brother, Jack Altman, praised him on Twitter for his generosity towards startups. He mentioned that Altman had been sending money to several startups today without requiring any documentation and just asking them to return the funds whenever they could.

Altman is one of the many tech executives who have come forward to offer assistance to startups affected by the downfall of SVB. The bank was closed by regulators on Friday following a series of headwinds and a fall in stock prices that led to a bank run among clients. Its collapse was the second-largest bank failure in the US since the 2008 financial crisis.

In response to the situation, Brex, a fintech startup, announced that it would provide emergency lines of credit to startups. The company’s co-CEO, Henrique Dubugras, stated that they received over $1.5 billion in requests from nearly 1,000 companies over the weekend.

Altman took to Twitter to encourage investors to provide their startups with emergency funds without any strings attached following the collapse of SVB.

In conclusion, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has left several startups in a precarious situation, and the assistance provided by Sam Altman and other tech executives is commendable.

investors who ask “how can i be helpful”: today is a good day to offer emergency cash to your startups that need it for payroll or whatever. no docs, no terms, just send money.

it’s hard for me to imagine depositors actually losing money here, but so stressful in the meantime…

— Sam Altman (@sama) March 10, 2023

Altman declined to disclose the exact sum he invested in Rad AI or any other startups. However, according to Gurson, he estimated that Altman invested a minimum of $1 million in his startup and several others.