Anthropic and OpenAI are both launching joint ventures for enterprise AI services
Source: TechCrunch
Anthropic launches enterprise AI joint venture
Anthropic announced a joint venture focused on deploying enterprise AI services. Founding partners include Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs, with backing from a group of VCs, hedge funds, and private‑equity firms such as Apollo Global Management, General Atlantic, GIC, Leonard Green, and Sequoia Capital.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the new venture is valued at $1.5 billion, including a $300 million commitment each from Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman.
“An engagement might begin with the company’s engineering team sitting down with clinicians and IT staff to build tools that fit into the workflows that staff already use… Engagements like this will run across mid‑sized companies across industries, each shaped by the people closest to the work.” – Anthropic announcement
The venture will leverage the forward‑deployed engineer (FDE) model popularized by Palantir, allowing more engineering resources to be devoted to each individual client.
OpenAI announces a parallel venture
Hours after Anthropic’s announcement, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI is raising funds for a new venture called The Development Company. The venture aims to operate at a larger scale, raising $4 billion from 19 investors at a $10 billion valuation. Named investors include TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent, and Bain Capital. There is no apparent overlap in investment between the OpenAI venture and Anthropic’s partners.
Common logic behind the ventures
Both initiatives raise capital from alternative asset managers to create new channels for enterprise AI deals. The expected benefits are:
- Preferred sales access to investors’ portfolio companies.
- Investors capture additional value from resulting contracts.
- Increased engineering capacity to support client engagements.
Funding landscape and valuation outlook
AI labs are fundraising at a rapid pace while contemplating possible IPOs:
- OpenAI announced $122 billion in new funding at the end of March, with a valuation of $852 billion.
- TechCrunch reported that Anthropic is in the final stages of its own funding round, seeking $50 billion of new capital at a $900 billion valuation.