AI funding war heats up: OpenAI’s $4 billion raise draws instant counter from Anthropic

The intensifying rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic spilled into the open on Wednesday, as both firms unveiled back-to-back initiatives aimed at accelerating enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence — within minutes of each other.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has reportedly raised more than $4 billion from a clutch of global investors to launch a new venture focused on helping companies deploy AI tools at scale. Almost immediately after that announcement, Anthropic revealed a competing tie-up with major Wall Street firms to push its Claude AI system deeper into corporate operations.

According to reports, OpenAI’s new entity — dubbed “The Deployment Company” — has drawn backing from investors including TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent International and Bain Capital. The venture is valued at around $10 billion and will remain majority-controlled by OpenAI, with additional participation from SoftBank and Dragoneer Investment Group.

More from Business

Anthropic’s response was swift. The company announced a partnership with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs to form a new AI-focused enterprise services firm. The venture will deploy Anthropic’s Claude models across portfolio companies owned by private equity firms, as well as external clients.

Race shifts from models to deployment

The near-simultaneous announcements underscore a broader shift in the AI industry — from building increasingly powerful models to driving real-world usage and monetisation. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are deploying specialised teams, often referred to as “forward-deployed engineers”, to work directly with enterprises and integrate AI into daily operations.

This transition is also strategically significant as both companies explore potential public listings, where sustained revenue growth and enterprise adoption will be key valuation drivers.

Cloud and compute arms race

Anthropic’s expansion is closely tied to its growing footprint in cloud infrastructure. The company has reportedly committed to spending as much as $200 billion with Google Cloud over five years.

Anthropic has also secured infrastructure partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Broadcom and specialised cloud provider CoreWeave. Its Claude models are trained and deployed across a mix of hardware, including chips from Nvidia.

High-stakes enterprise battle

Industry estimates indicate that contracts linked to OpenAI and Anthropic now account for a substantial share of the roughly $2 trillion backlog across major cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure and AWS.

The rapid-fire announcements highlight how the AI race is entering a new phase — where access to capital, enterprise distribution and compute infrastructure may proveas decisive as technological breakthroughs.