Companies formed through partnerships between major AI developers and private equity sponsors are negotiating purchases of businesses that help other firms deploy artificial intelligence, according to people familiar with the matter. The initiatives, run independently by the two AI developers, aim to bring a sizable number of engineers and consultants under the same corporate umbrellas to support adoption of AI models.
Sources said OpenAI’s joint venture is in advanced stages on three separate transactions. The AI developer and its partners are targeting engineering and consulting firms that can be integrated to support clients as they adapt and operationalize models. "People familiar with the matter" provided details but asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
The acquisitions would give the AI companies direct access to teams that help tailor models to clients’ data, systems and workflows. Five of the people said the companies are seeking to bring on board hundreds of engineers and consultants to help customers put AI models to work - a capability that differs from the core model-building activity that has dominated their public profiles.
OpenAI is raising roughly $4 billion from 19 investors, including TPG, Bain Capital and Brookfield Asset Management, to fund its joint venture. The vehicle, to be called The Deployment Company, is expected to be announced later this week, one of the people said. Anthropic is pursuing a similar effort, raising about $1.5 billion from investors that include Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs, according to a published report.
People involved in the fundraising and deal discussions said most of the capital committed to the joint ventures is intended to support acquisitions of engineering services and consulting firms. OpenAI and Anthropic have not provided comments on the reported talks.
Why the acquisitions matter
The moves underscore a structural reality of enterprise AI adoption: even as makers of large models position the technology as a high-margin software business, deploying AI solutions in real-world settings remains labor-intensive. Companies require highly skilled practitioners - engineers and consultants - to customize models for particular datasets, integrate them with existing systems and update deployments as business needs evolve.
Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, commented that hiring skilled workers will "break down one of the most significant bottlenecks to enterprise AI adoption." Another statement attributed to Gray noted: "We believe it can help break down one of the most significant bottlenecks to enterprise AI adoption by expanding the number of highly skilled implementation partners," in reference to Anthropic’s joint venture.
The approach resembles Palantir’s historical model of embedding engineers inside customer operations to implement and adapt software. Observers say the AI industry appears to be applying that playbook more broadly as it builds out dedicated deployment arms and considers consolidation of a fragmented services market.
Commercial messaging included in the original material
The source material also contained promotional messaging about AI-driven stock selection services and cited past performance examples for illustrative purposes. That material described an investment product that claimed outsized returns and listed specific company winners. Those promotional claims were present in the reporting materials but are separate from the acquisition details described above.