OpenAI has lined up in excess of $4 billion to capitalize a newly created joint venture intended to accelerate corporate adoption of its AI software, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The initiative, which OpenAI has named The Deployment Company, drew commitments from 19 investors, among them TPG Inc (NASDAQ:TPG), Brookfield Asset Management Inc (NYSE:BAM), Advent and Bain Capital Specialty Finance Inc (NYSE:BCSF).
The arrangement places a pre-money valuation on the new entity of $10 billion, the person said. That valuation does not include the fresh capital being raised. OpenAI will continue to hold a majority stake in the venture and will retain operational control, while other backers named in the report include SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) and Dragoneer Investment Group.
The OpenAI transaction follows reporting about a comparable move by Anthropic. Per a Financial Times report cited in the same coverage, Anthropic has secured $1.5 billion for a separate joint venture backed by a consortium of Wall Street institutions. Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) and Hellman & Friedman are listed as leading that initiative, which is intended to deploy AI across the firms' global investment portfolios.
The Financial Times article, citing people briefed on the matter, said the three lead firms will each put forward an initial $300 million. In addition, Goldman Sachs and General Atlantic are expected to commit $150 million each to the unnamed project, according to the report. The project had not been given a public name at the time of reporting.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are expanding their commercial operations as they progress toward planned public listings that could occur as early as this year. These joint ventures are being positioned as mechanisms to open enterprise channels for AI products and to demonstrate the technology's value in commercial settings.
Contextual note: The reporting identifying investors, preliminary valuation, ownership structure and the parallel Anthropic transaction is based on people briefed on the respective deals. Details reflect those accounts and remain subject to confirmation in formal announcements.