Anthropic and OpenAI Launch Enterprise AI Joint Ventures

Anthropic announced a joint venture with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs focused on deploying enterprise AI services. Apollo Global Management, General Atlantic, GIC, Leonard Green, and Sequoia Capital are also participating, with the venture valued at $1.5 billion according to WSJ reporting. Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman each committed $300 million.

Just hours earlier, OpenAI was also reported to be preparing a similarly structured venture called The Development Company. According to Bloomberg, this venture will raise $4 billion from 19 investors and launch at a $10 billion valuation, with TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent, and Bain Capital among the names involved.

The core of both ventures lies in partnering with alternative asset managers to secure priority sales access to portfolio companies. If the deals succeed, the investment firms will extract more value from their portfolio companies, while both AI companies gain deeper customer access.

The operating approach resembles Palantir's forward-deployed engineer (FDE) model. Anthropic said it will co-design tools around the workflows already used by medical staff and IT personnel, expanding customized deployment across mid-sized companies in various industries.

Both companies are simultaneously pursuing massive fundraising alongside potential IPOs. OpenAI announced a new $122 billion funding round in late March, while Anthropic is reportedly in the process of raising $50 billion at a $900 billion valuation.