Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On March 13, after Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank in the United States, announced the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of popular chat robot ChatGPT, provided emergency funds to start-ups to help them pay their employees and ensure that the company could continue to operate.

On Friday, the bank, which focuses on technology start-ups, suddenly collapsed, the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. The collapse of Silicon Valley banks has disrupted global markets, and many tech founders worry that they will not be able to afford to pay their employees. To avoid what Chen Jiaxing, chief executive of startup accelerator Y Combinator, called a "potential extinction event in the technology industry", industry executives moved quickly to do everything they could to help save small businesses.

Altman, who runs OpenAI, one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, helped save startups at his own expense. Doktor Doktor Gurson, chief executive of Rad AI, a radiation startup based in Berkeley, Calif., confirmed: "I had no choice, so I emailed him." Altman responded immediately after receiving the request, agreeing to provide emergency funds of at least $100000 (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 695000 yuan) to pay employees. There is no time limit and no strings attached to the fund until he can repay it when he can.

Mr. Goulson said the company relied heavily on Silicon Valley Bank, whose sudden closure meant he didn't have the money to pay about 65 employees. "A lot of people have to live on their wages, they have mortgages to pay and bills to pay," Goulson said. "

Previously, Goulson's entrepreneurial partner waited on the FDIC hotline for eight hours, but to no avail. Attempts to transfer money out of Silicon Valley banks have failed.

Jack Altman's brother Jack Altman wrote on Twitter on Saturday: "Sam has been sending money to beleaguered startups today without any perks. He just says, 'when will you be able to pay me back?'" When asked about this, Mr Altman said: "I remember investors helping me when I was running a start-up. I really need this help, and I always try to give back."

Altman is just one of several technology executives who have provided assistance to start-ups affected by the collapse of Silicon Valley banks. Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by regulators on Friday after falling share prices and a run triggered by a series of headwinds, marking the collapse of the second largest US bank since the 2008 financial crisis.

Brex, a financial technology startup, announced on Friday that it would provide emergency loans to start-ups. Enrique Dubglass, the company's co-chief executive, said they had received applications for more than $1.5 billion in loans from nearly 1000 companies this weekend. "We are trying to sign a contract with the lender by the end of tomorrow and everyone is working on it," he said. "

In a tweet on the occasion of the collapse of Silicon Valley banks on Friday, Altman encouraged investors to provide emergency funding for the start-ups they backed, with no strings attached. "even if Silicon Valley banks cannot find a buyer or a loan over the weekend, start-up deposits should be allowed to withdraw," he says. but at the same time, people are facing a real liquidity crunch, which is not their own fault and employees need to be paid accordingly. "

Altman did not confirm the amount of money he provided to Rad AI or any other start-up, but Goulson said he guessed that Altman had provided at least $1 million (CTOnews.com Note: about 6.95 million yuan) to Rad AI and other companies. The founders of several start-ups confirmed that they were unable to pay their employees while waiting for further information from the FDIC on what to do with their deposits. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took over the assets of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday.

As of Saturday night, more than 3500 chief executives and founders representing about 220000 employees had signed a petition sponsored by Y Combinator, calling directly on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others to support depositors, many of whom are small business owners, who may not be able to pay their employees for the next 30 days. The petition advocates "strengthening supervision and capital requirements for regional banks" and investigating any "misconduct or mismanagement" by Silicon Valley bank executives. The petition warns that more than 100000 jobs could be threatened.

Venture capitalists advise start-ups to find alternatives to get short-term liquidity. Some companies, including LowerCarbon Capital, provide loans to companies whose money is trapped in Silicon Valley bank accounts. Its partner, Clay Dumas, said LowerCarbon would provide wage support over the next two weeks and would start allocating funds on Monday.

Khosla Ventures also said: "given the rapid changes in the situation, we are in negotiations with more than 100 investment companies to assess their key needs and plan to build bridges where we are the lead or major investors."

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