OpenAI has completed a deal to help employees sell roughly $7 billion worth of shares in the company ahead of a possible Wall Street debut, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The ChatGPT maker bought back shares from current and former employees rather than tapping outside investors for the tender offer, said two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. The deal valued the startup at $852 billion, the people said, unchanged from its most recent funding round.

Top private AI companies periodically allow insiders to cash out some of their shares. In the past, OpenAI has enlisted investors such as Thrive Capital and SoftBank Group Corp. to purchase stock from employees.

OpenAI declined to comment.

The AI developer raised $122 billion from Big Tech companies and venture capital firms in March. OpenAI said in June that it had confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering.

For much of this year, OpenAI has been locked in a fierce rivalry with Anthropic PBC. Once viewed as an underdog in the AI race, Anthropic has gained momentum for its AI software, vaulted ahead of OpenAI in valuation and is poised to potentially go public before OpenAI.