Anthropic has partnered with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs to launch a new AI services company aimed at helping mid-sized businesses adopt AI tools powered by Anthropic’s Claude model.
The new company will work with organisations across sectors including healthcare, manufacturing and financial services. Applied AI engineers will work alongside the venture’s engineering teams to identify operational use cases for Claude, develop custom AI systems and provide long-term support.
The announcement came hours after Bloomberg reported rival OpenAI raising more than $4 billion for a separate AI deployment venture called The Deployment Company. The OpenAI-backed venture is targeting a valuation of about $10 billion and has attracted support from investors including TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent International and Bain Capital.
Anthropic’s new venture is also backed by investors including General Atlantic, Apollo Global Management, GIC, Leonard Green & Partners and Sequoia Capital.
The new venture is intended to expand deployment support for companies that lack the internal resources to implement advanced AI systems. It would complement its existing Claude Partner Network, which includes consulting and systems integration firms such as Accenture, Deloitte and PwC.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the venture has been valued at about $1.5 billion, including commitments of $300 million each from Anthropic, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman.
The Anthropic and OpenAI initiatives signal increasing competition among AI companies to build services businesses focused on enterprise adoption of generative AI tools.
The move comes as AI companies increasingly look beyond selling software models and toward providing tailored deployment services for enterprises.
The new ventures from Anthropic and rival OpenAI could increase pressure on Indian IT services firms such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, which have traditionally operated on software and technology services models. The new AI-focused ventures aim to offer businesses customised deployment and integration of AI tools based on operational needs, backed by funding and distribution support from major Wall Street investors.