OpenAI (OPENAI) has taken a stake in Thrive Holdings to deliver its artificial intelligence applications to accounting and IT services firms, according to the New York Times.
Thrive Holdings is a capital investment firm created by Thrive Capital. It buys services companies and then attempts to strengthen their profitability. Its strategy is to use technology, particularly AI, to transform companies for enduring growth, focusing on operational improvements to enhance efficiency. It was founded by Joshua Kushner. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
OpenAI is attempting to build out its own services and generate more revenue, as the company, most recently valued at $500B, is competing against various startups and large corporations building large language models. OpenAI also plans to spend more than $1.3T on infrastructure projects by 2033.
“What we’re trying to do with this partnership is really prove out ways that we can accelerate that type of transformation,” said Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s chief operating officer, according to the report.
Thrive Holdings is currently overseeing Crete Professionals Alliance, an accounting business, and Shield Technology Partners, an IT services company, the report said. As part of the partnership, OpenAI will embed engineers and researchers into these companies to help foster an AI business transformation.
“We think the impact AI has in businesses and in the enterprise is going to be actually transformative,” Lightcap added. “That could happen on a near-term timeline. And we’re trying to figure out how to kind of make that happen as fast as we can.”
OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft (MSFT) and SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY)(OTCPK:SFTBF), faces competitors ranging from startups such as Anthropic (ANTHRO) and xAI (X.AI) to tech giants such as Google (GOOG)(GOOGL).