OpenAI announced the acquisition of a stake in private equity firm Thrive Holdings, whose parent company, Thrive Capital, is one of the main investors in OpenAI. Although OpenAI did not spend any money on the ownership stake, according to an anonymous source cited by the Financial Times, the company said it would provide Thrive Holdings’ companies with employees, models, products and services.
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OpenAI could also receive payments from future profits from Thrive Holdings, the FT reported, citing its anonymous source. The partnership is part of a trend in an industry known for circular deals and financial exchanges between a small group of companies.
The partnership will focus on two areas that are at the top of Thrive Holdings’ priority list: IT services and accounting. These are “high-volume, rules-driven, and workflow-intensive processes where OpenAI can deliver immediate benefits,” according to the announcement. The stated goal is to use AI to “enhance speed, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness, while enhancing service quality.”
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Joshua Kushner ,CEO of Thrive Holdings and Thrive Capital, said that AI is not like previous technologies that changed industries “from the outside in.” He believes this paradigm shift will happen from the inside out, as industry experts and professionals use AI as a native tool to reshape their fields. Kushner noted that President Trump is a strong supporter of AI, and officials in his administration, such as David Sacks, are expected to benefit from the industry’s growth.
Thrive Holdings aims to transform IT services and accounting using artificial intelligence. As part of the deal with OpenAI, the startup will gain access to data from Thrive Holdings’ companies to train its AI models. This presents two potential advantages for OpenAI: the opportunity to integrate its technology into Thrive Holdings’ portfolio companies and a new source of training data. OpenAI is looking to work more broadly with the private equity industry, according to the anonymous source.
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A person close to Thrive Capital said OpenAI will serve as the “research arm” of the private equity group. The deal with Thrive could mark the beginning of a new wave of similar deals, according to OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap.
