Anthropic Nears $1.5 Billion Joint Venture With Wall Street Firms
Anthropic, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman each expected to invest around $300 million; Goldman Sachs also an investor
- Anthropic is finalizing a deal for a new joint venture with Wall Street firms to sell AI tools to private-equity-backed companies.
- The new company will act as a consulting arm for Anthropic, helping businesses incorporate AI across their operations.
- OpenAI is also in talks to form a rival joint venture with private-equity firms, as both AI companies target businesses.
Anthropic is finalizing a deal to create a new joint venture with Blackstone BX 0.61%increase; green up pointing triangle, Goldman Sachs GS -0.01%decrease; red down pointing triangle and a handful of other Wall Street firms that aims to sell artificial-intelligence tools to private-equity backed companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
The details
An announcement is expected as soon as Monday, the people said.
Anthropic, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman are anchoring the deal and are each expected to invest roughly $300 million, the people added.
Goldman Sachs GS -0.01%decrease; red down pointing triangle is also set to be a founding investor, putting in around $150 million, the people said. General Atlantic and other firms are also involved in the deal. All told, about $1.5 billion is expected to be committed, the people said.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Anthropic was planning its own investment to back the project.
The investors aim to create a company that acts as a consulting arm for Anthropic and helps teach businesses—including the private-equity firms’ portfolio companies—how to incorporate AI across their operations.
The context
OpenAI has also been in talks to form a rival joint venture with private-equity firms that spreads adoption of its own AI tools.
Both AI juggernauts are focusing their efforts on selling AI tools to businesses and see those backed by private-equity firms as a prime target, given that many are already focused on improving efficiency and cutting costs. Anthropic is widely seen as the industry leader in the enterprise market, though OpenAI is working hard to catch up.
Anthropic is eyeing a public listing that could take place as soon as this year. The company’s revenue skyrocketed in recent months thanks to the success of its coding tool, Claude Code.
News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI.