Anthropic Nears $1.5 Billion AI Joint Venture with Blackstone and Goldman Sachs | NEWS.am TECH - Innovations and science

Anthropic is finalizing a joint venture worth approximately $1.5 billion with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Hellman & Friedman, and other Wall Street firms to sell AI tools to private equity-backed companies, The Wall Street Journal reports. An official announcement could follow as early as Monday.

Deal Structure: $300 Million Each

Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman are expected to contribute approximately $300 million each to the joint venture, while Goldman Sachs will provide about $150 million as a founding investor. The deal represents a significant expansion from earlier April reports, which discussed a total raise of $1 billion, with Anthropic contributing $200 million.

The joint venture will operate as an AI consulting arm, helping the portfolio companies of participating private equity firms integrate Anthropic's Claude chatbot and other AI products into their operations. Rather than simply providing software subscriptions, the structure will offer hands-on implementation support -- including training and technical assistance for management teams looking to embed AI into their workflows.

The Competitive Race for Corporate AI

The deal comes amid fierce competition between Anthropic and its primary rival, OpenAI, for private equity-backed corporate clients. OpenAI is building its own joint venture, named DeployCo, alongside firms like TPG, Bain Capital, Advent International, and Brookfield. OpenAI has pledged up to $1.5 billion in its own equity, with private equity partners committing around $4 billion over five years. Reportedly, OpenAI offered its partners a guaranteed minimum annual return of 17.5%, a more aggressive financial incentive compared to Anthropic's terms.

The core strategy for both AI companies is the same: by deeply embedding their technology into thousands of portfolio companies held by private equity funds, they aim to lock in long-term corporate clients ahead of potential initial public offerings. In February 2026, Anthropic closed a $30 billion Series G funding round, bringing its post-money valuation to $380 billion, according to Forbes.

Deepening Wall Street Ties

This venture builds on Anthropic's existing relationship with Goldman Sachs. In February, Goldman confirmed it had been working with Anthropic engineers for six months to develop AI-based agents for trade accounting, client due diligence, and onboarding processes, as reported by Reuters. Goldman's CIO Marco Argenti told CNBC at the time that the technology is expected to reduce the time required for key operational tasks.

A Wall Street Journal opinion piece published last week questioned whether such AI joint ventures constitute real corporate sales or if they effectively subsidize partners to encourage technology adoption. Despite this skepticism, the scale of commitment from both sides of the Anthropic deal suggests that the private equity industry views AI integration as a key tool for extracting value from portfolio companies.