Emulating the Palantir model: OpenAI and Anthropic jointly invest $5.5 billion to acquire an "AI deployment service provider," accelerating the landing of enterprise-level applications.

According to informed sources, OpenAI and Anthropic are each setting up joint ventures with private equity firms and are in talks to acquire service companies that help clients deploy artificial intelligence. Among them, three acquisition deals for OpenAI's new joint ventures have entered the later stages. Five informed sources said that the two AI companies plan to acquire hundreds of engineers and consultants through acquisitions to assist enterprises in deploying their AI models in practical applications. These acquisitions will mark the opening of a new front in the competition between the two companies for market share in the AI industry. Although both parties have previously focused on building more powerful AI models, achieving scalable deployment requires different types of specialized capabilities, which is the capability they now hope to "buy back." According to previous reports, OpenAI is raising about $4 billion from its joint ventures with 19 investors, including TPG, Bain Capital, Brookfield Asset Management, and Bruker Corporation. One source said that the joint venture is called "The Deployment Company" and will be officially announced later this week. Meanwhile, Anthropic is also making similar moves. It is understood that Anthropic is raising $1.5 billion from investors such as Blackstone Inc., Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Sources said that most of the funds raised through joint ventures are expected to be used for the acquisition of engineering services and consulting companies. Demand for high-skilled, labor-intensive services This reflects the core contradiction in the enterprise AI industry: while AI is often portrayed as a high-profit software business that may even eliminate the need for consulting services, it still relies heavily on labor-intensive, high-skilled services. This is because enterprises need engineers and consultants to customize AI models for their specific data, systems, and processes, and continually adjust the software based on changing business needs. Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Inc., said in a statement that hiring high-skilled talent will "break one of the most significant bottlenecks in the adoption of AI by businesses." This strategy is reminiscent of Palantir's model, which embeds engineers in client operations to implement and adjust its software. Now, the AI industry is heavily replicating this approach. This also suggests that OpenAI and Anthropic are likely to integrate a fragmented market composed of small consulting and IT services companies while building dedicated deployment departments. Gray said regarding Anthropic's joint venture: "We believe that increasing the number of high-skilled implementation partners can help break one of the most significant bottlenecks in the adoption of AI by businesses."