OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo, Feb. 3, 2025.
Kim Kyung-hoon | Reuters
Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital invested roughly $1 billion in OpenAI at a $285 billion valuation in December, a source confirmed Wednesday.
It is a preferential deal for the venture capital firm that has long been one of the artificial intelligence startup’s major financial backers.
OpenAI is finalizing a massive funding round that could total more than $100 billion and boost the company’s valuation to $800 billion. Thrive’s investment late last year was a separate deal, but the firm is likely to participate in the current round, according to the source, who is familiar with the discussions and asked not to be named because the talks are confidential.
A representative for Thrive declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal was first to report Thrive’s investment.
Thrive announced earlier this month that it closed its latest fund, which exceeds $10 billion. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has a close relationship with Kushner, lauded the news in a post on X.
“Extremely grateful to work with Josh,” Altman wrote. “No one could ask for a more committed, more thoughtful, or harder-working investor.”
Kushner has deep connections with the White House as his father, Charles Kushner, is the U.S. ambassador to France, and his brother, Jared Kushner, is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
In December, OpenAI also took an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings, a company that buys, owns and runs companies that it believes could benefit from technologies like artificial intelligence. The startup did not disclose the financial terms of that agreement.
OpenAI’s latest funding round is expected to close in phases, as CNBC previously reported. Investments from strategics like Nvidia, SoftBank and Amazon, which make up roughly 90% of the round, will come first. Contributions from a broader pool of investors will follow.
WATCH: Watch CNBC’s full interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
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