OpenAI announced on Monday that it is taking an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings. One of OpenAI’s major investors, Thrive Capital, launched this separate company just last April. The startup says it will embed its own engineering, research, and product teams directly into Thrive Holdings’ companies. Their main goal is to speed up how these businesses use AI and help them save money.
Thrive Holdings focuses on buying and running companies in the “real economy.” According to its website, they start with essential sectors like accounting and IT services. By sending in its own experts, OpenAI plans to overhaul how these traditional industries work.
The companies kept the specific financial numbers quiet. However, OpenAI—now valued at a staggering $500 billion—structured the agreement uniquely. Instead of a flat fee, the deal aligns their long-term incentives. According to a source familiar with the matter, OpenAI’s stake in Thrive Holdings will actually grow if the portfolio companies succeed. This setup allows OpenAI to earn compensation for its services through equity gains rather than cash payments alone.
Joshua Kushner, the founder of Thrive, stated that he is excited to embed OpenAI’s “frontier models” into sectors with significant potential for technological growth. OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap backed this up, saying the partnership proves what is possible when businesses rapidly deploy advanced AI research across their entire organization to change how they work and engage with customers.
This move fits a recent pattern for OpenAI involving “circular” deals. In recent months, the company has bought stakes in infrastructure partners such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and CoreWeave. These are the same companies that build the hardware OpenAI needs to run. By investing in the companies that support its own growth, OpenAI strengthens its ecosystem.
In a separate announcement on Monday, OpenAI revealed a new collaboration with the consulting giant Accenture. The firm plans to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise to “tens of thousands” of its employees. This puts OpenAI’s business-focused tools in the hands of a massive workforce, further expanding its reach into the corporate world.
