According to Vince Hankes, a prominent partner at the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, the world’s largest technology corporations appear to be uniting — at least implicitly — in opposition to OpenAI. During a recent episode of the “Uncapped” podcast, released on Wednesday, Hankes shared his view that the dominant players in the technology sector are determined to protect their positions at the top of the hierarchy and are thus reluctant to allow any new contenders to rise to their level. He used a vivid metaphor to describe this competitive landscape, stating that OpenAI currently inhabits a vulnerable position, as if cornered, while every major tech company is metaphorically armed with a bazooka and taking aim, focused on its destruction or at least on curbing its growth. In his explanation, none of these powerful corporations wish to see the emergence of another company capable of matching their scale, influence, or technological capabilities.
Thrive Capital — the investment firm founded in 2011 by Josh Kushner — has become one of OpenAI’s key backers. Beyond its involvement with the developer of ChatGPT, Thrive is also financially linked to some of the most innovative enterprises in the modern economy, including aerospace pioneer SpaceX, data analytics powerhouse Databricks, and payments platform Stripe. Hankes emphasized that supporting OpenAI aligns with the firm’s vision for fostering vibrant competition within the technology ecosystem. He argued that it is crucial to maintain an environment in which new companies have a legitimate opportunity to break into what he referred to as the “Mag Seven,” a shorthand for the seven most dominant tech entities — Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Meta, Tesla, and Nvidia. In his view, the health and dynamism of the entire innovation ecosystem depend on the possibility that challengers like OpenAI can compete fairly with these incumbents.
However, Hankes clarified that Thrive Capital’s enthusiasm for OpenAI does not necessarily mean it plans to confine its investments solely to that company. He noted that, even though OpenAI currently offers an unmatched potential return when adjusted for risk, responsible investing also requires maintaining a willingness to take calculated risks beyond a single enterprise. “There isn’t a risk-adjusted better return than OpenAI,” he explained, suggesting that whenever the opportunity arises, it would be rational for Thrive to continue increasing its stake in the company. Yet he quickly added that investors must be careful not to let the allure of one exceptional opportunity blind them to the broader landscape of innovation, since avoiding risk altogether can also become a strategic misstep.
When asked for further comment, Hankes did not immediately respond to Business Insider. Meanwhile, OpenAI has been attracting considerable attention from both investors and competitors due to a recent series of major announcements and high-profile deals. Over the past month, the company — now estimated to be valued at around $500 billion — has made a sequence of strategic moves that have positioned it closer than ever to the world’s most established tech titans.
During its DevDay event on Monday, OpenAI revealed its plans to integrate a wide range of applications directly within ChatGPT, expanding the platform’s functionality far beyond its original conversational purpose. Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman also disclosed that ChatGPT has now reached an extraordinary 800 million weekly users, underscoring its widespread adoption and ability to shape digital behavior on a massive scale. In addition, OpenAI introduced a new software development kit designed to enable external developers to build and distribute their own applications through ChatGPT, transforming it into a multifaceted platform reminiscent of an app store. This development, though innovative, has reignited concerns among industry observers and investors that traditional leaders such as Apple and Google may face disruption to their established ecosystems, particularly as generative AI tools increasingly challenge Google’s long-dominant search engine market share.
Further signaling its growing industrial ambitions, OpenAI announced a long-term partnership with chip manufacturer AMD, which will involve deploying hardware systems capable of consuming as much as six gigawatts of energy — an enormous scale by any measure. This deal followed shortly after Nvidia’s own announcement detailing a collaboration that would give OpenAI access to an additional 10 gigawatts of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs), accompanied by a staggering $100 billion investment commitment from the chipmaker. Continuing its momentum, OpenAI also disclosed plans to produce its first proprietary artificial intelligence chip in collaboration with Broadcom, projected to debut next year.
Taken together, these developments paint a picture of an AI company rapidly ascending into a league previously dominated by the so-called “Mag Seven.” Yet, in doing so, OpenAI has inevitably provoked the defensive instincts of those same giants — the very outcome Hankes alluded to when he said that Big Tech does not welcome another Big Tech entrant. His remarks, rich with metaphor and strategic insight, highlight the tension at the heart of the modern technology landscape: an industry simultaneously driven by innovation and constrained by the immense gravitational pull of its established titans.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/thrive-partner-vince-hankes-openai-big-tech-competition-2025-10
