OpenAI announced Monday that it's deepening its enterprise strategy with an equity stake in Thrive Holdings, signaling a major push into traditional business services that haven't exactly been known for their cutting-edge technology.

Embedding AI Teams Into Old-School Industries

Here's how the partnership works: OpenAI and Thrive Holdings are joining forces to inject advanced AI into sectors like accounting and IT services. These are massive industries that still operate on what Thrive diplomatically calls "old, manual, and disconnected workflows."

The interesting part? This isn't just a software licensing deal. OpenAI will actually embed its research, product, and engineering teams inside Thrive Holdings' portfolio companies. The goal is to boost speed, accuracy, and cost efficiency while improving service quality, according to the AI startup's blog post.

Thrive Holdings was formed this year by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital and has reportedly raised more than $1 billion to acquire and modernize legacy service firms through an AI roll-up strategy. Joshua Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, former White House advisor to Donald Trump and the president's son-in-law.

Valuation Headed Toward $500 Billion

The Thrive news comes as OpenAI employees are reportedly considering selling nearly $6 billion in shares to investors, including SoftBank Group (SFTBY) and Thrive Capital. That deal was first reported in August and could push OpenAI's valuation to $500 billion, up from its current $300 billion.

There's also a significant shift happening in ChatGPT's business model. Last week, reports emerged that OpenAI is testing advertisements inside ChatGPT, moving away from its ad-free experience. A leaker named Tibor Blaho discovered references in the beta version of the ChatGPT Android app to an "ads feature," including "bazaar content" and "search ads carousel," suggesting OpenAI may introduce ads similar to Google Search.

Revenue Reality Check

Speaking of money, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Friday that the company is generating far more revenue than the widely reported $13 billion figure. He made the comment while defending the company's $1.4 trillion infrastructure investment during an interview on the Bg2 Pod.

The combination of enterprise partnerships, potential ad revenue, and massive valuations shows OpenAI isn't just focused on building better AI models—it's aggressively pursuing every available revenue stream to justify those eye-watering numbers.