OpenAI raised more than $4B for a new joint venture called The Deployment Company, which is focused on helping businesses leverage its AI software and values the new firm at $10B, with backing from TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent, Bain Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, SoftBank, and consulting firms. Within minutes of the OpenAI news breaking, rival Anthropic announced its own similar joint venture partnering with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Goldman Sachs, Apollo Global Management, General Atlantic, Leonard Green & Partners, GIC, and Sequoia Capital, with the goal of deploying Claude into the core operations of midsize companies. Both ventures coincide with the rise of “forward-deployed engineers” being aggressively recruited across the industry to help businesses adopt AI software, and come as both companies target initial public offerings as soon as this year, with OpenAI’s partners reportedly having access to more than 2,000 portfolio companies and clients.
