Thrive Holdings, an offshoot of Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital, is in talks to raise around $2 billion from SoftBank, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners and others. The vehicle acquires accounting and IT services firms and rebuilds their operations with AI, marking a new bet by OpenAI's key backers.
December 1, 2025 · OpenAI × Thrive Holdings
The $2B Bet Shifts From Building AI to Owning the Businesses That Use It
Major OpenAI backers are pouring roughly $2 billion into an "AI roll-up" that buys fragmented accounting and IT firms and rebuilds them AI-native. Instead of cash, OpenAI embeds its research and engineering teams — betting that adoption , not models, is the next frontier.
~$2B
New raise now being pursued
~50
Accounting firms acquired via Crete / Current
10,000+
Customers across IT & accounting platforms
~7,000
Tax returns processed by Tax AI (2025-26 season)
One Return, Recut: 180 Hours → 15 Hours
A single case of processing time collapsing after AI-native redesign — a 31% average cut across the workflow.
Up to 98%
Data-entry accuracy vs a 10-15% manual error rate
-31%
Average processing time cut for accountants
The "Forever Hold" Loop
Acquire
Buy fragmented, labor-intensive accounting & IT firms
→
Rebuild
Embed AI specialists; redesign workflows AI-native
→
Learn
Real operational data continuously improves the models
No near-term exits. OpenAI contributes teams and platform access instead of cash; the resulting IP is held by Thrive Holdings.
Welcomed on the ground
Frees junior staff for client work & strategy
Answers a talent shortage — CPA candidates fell ~30% (2016-2021)
Acquired partners keep minority stakes as co-owners
Open questions
Early bug-fixing and hard domain-specific tasks
Regulation and auditability still to be addressed
IT services prize confidentiality — a tricky fit for AI
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