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The last weeks have actually answered a question that previously existed more as a hypothesis from business school textbooks than as a subject of open discussion. The essence of this question is what is more valuable for a company that develops advanced AI models: getting another $50 billion investment round or creating a stable distribution channel to the operating businesses of the largest private equity funds in the world. Anthropic has chosen the second option.
On Sunday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was finalizing a joint venture agreement for about $1.5 billion with a number of financial giants. According to the available information, the key investors are Anthropic, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman, with each party investing about $300 million. Goldman Sachs joins as a founding member with a contribution of about $150 million, while General Atlantic and other participants provide the rest of the funding. Earlier, the structure was said to be about $1 billion, but the final estimate increased to $1.5 billion.
The new structure will function as a hybrid of a consulting platform and a technology implementation tool. It will be tasked with integrating the Claude model into the daily processes of companies in private investors’ portfolios.
The logic behind this approach is quite simple. Private equity funds control thousands of companies in the healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. Each of them has the potential to become an Anthropic client. Traditionally, selling enterprise software to such companies takes years, while through a joint venture, this process can be reduced to a few months. In fact, it’s not so much about launching a new product as it is about creating a large-scale sales infrastructure.
A similar model has been used before. OpenAI recently launched its own joint venture, DeployCo, with the participation of TPG, Bain Capital, Advent International, Brookfield, and Goanna Capital. The total contribution of these funds was about $4 billion, while OpenAI itself invested $500 million with an option to invest another $1 billion. DeployCo is expected to reach a valuation of $10 billion in the funding round, which will be completed in early May. At the same time, OpenAI has guaranteed its partners a return of 17.5% per annum for 5 years.
Anthropic’s structure differs in several key ways. The total investment volume is smaller, but the capital concentration is higher, and the company itself invests about the same amount as the largest financial partners. No data on guaranteed returns are available at this time. The composition of investors also has a different emphasis. Instead of a wide pool of partners, they rely on the reputation and status of the participants. Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager, Hellman & Friedman is known as one of the most consistent players in the large deals segment, Goldman Sachs adds financial weight, and General Atlantic provides the private equity component.
Thus, the two companies pursue different strategies. OpenAI’s DeployCo is focused on scale and rapid coverage of the maximum number of private equity portfolios. Anthropic’s approach is based on reputation, where the integration of Claude into the structures of several influential financial players should create a trust effect and stimulate further spread of the technology in the market. The timing of this deal is not accidental. Anthropic has already received preliminary offers to raise about $50 billion, with the company’s valuation in the range of $850-900 billion. The decision of the board of directors is expected in May, and the IPO may take place as early as October 2026.
The company’s financial indicators show rapid growth. Annual revenue, according to Anthropic’s own data, grew from about $9 billion at the end of 2025 to about $30 billion as of the end of March 2026. To successfully go public on such a scale, it is not enough to have a technological advantage, it is also necessary to confirm the stability and scalability of corporate revenues. This is where the new joint venture plays a key role. The massive deployment of Claude in the portfolio companies of large funds creates a predictable revenue growth dynamic that investors can easily model.
In addition to the financial effect, it also shapes the strategic narrative. In such a model, Claude is positioned not as a chat or API for developers, but as an infrastructure element integrated into the real business processes of a large part of the economy. Certain prerequisites for this already exist. In recent months, Goldman Sachs has been testing Claude as a basis for autonomous agents in accounting and compliance. Anthropic engineers have reportedly been working directly within the bank for 6 months, jointly developing these solutions. Separately, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs tested the Mythos model as part of Project Glasswing, which focuses on cyber risks in the field of AI. The new joint venture will actually commercialize the results of these experiments.
For investors themselves, the logic of participation is also obvious. Returns in private equity funds are increasingly dependent not on financial instruments but on improving the efficiency of portfolio companies. AI is seen as a key driver of such changes, although its large-scale implementation remains a challenge. By investing in an entity that deploys the technology of one of the leading AI developers, funds can gain early access, better pricing, and potentially participate in Anthropic’s commercial growth.
Goldman Sachs’ investment of $150 million looks relatively small, but it is of strategic importance. This bank is considered one of the candidates for the role of co-organizer of Anthropic’s upcoming IPO, so the investment actually deepens the partnership. At the same time, this model is not without risks. Historically, joint ventures in the financial sector have often failed to meet expectations, especially when it comes to rapidly changing technologies. Claude in its current form will look different in 3 years. The question is whether the organizational structure of the enterprise will be able to adapt to changes in models, pricing, and the competitive environment.
The DeployCo example is still too fresh to evaluate, and Anthropic’s approach, which involves fewer partners, potentially limits the speed of response to changes. Additionally, it should be borne in mind that OpenAI’s valuation has already sparked discussions among investors, which indicates the presence of market pressure even in this segment. There is also a conceptual risk. Anthropic was founded by researchers who paid considerable attention to AI security and positioned itself as a more cautious player. The massive implementation of Claude in the business processes of numerous companies with different regulatory and operational environments could be a serious test for this approach.
These factors are not critical, but they do reflect the complexity of a new model that does not yet have an established history. Anthropic has opted for cooperation with Wall Street as an alternative to traditional corporate sales in competition with OpenAI.
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