Greetings,

Anthropic is in talks with a consortium of private equity firms, including Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman, to form a joint venture. The proposed entity would use a Palantir-like model to sell consulting services that help integrate Anthropic's AI into the firms' portfolio companies. Blackstone, which already holds a stake worth roughly $1 billion in the Claude maker, has more than 250 portfolio companies.

These discussions have persisted despite Anthropic's escalating legal battle with the Department of Defense, which recently designated the startup a supply chain risk. While the conflict initially impacted the talks, the parties are still moving forward as Anthropic's annualized revenue has surged to $19 billion.

Why it caught my eye:

• Labor Market Disruption Anthropic leaders have stated AI will disrupt labor markets, and PE-funded firms are particularly keen to use the technology to reduce headcount.
• Enterprise Scaling Hurdles The move acknowledges that large-scale AI setup is difficult, requiring the kind of dedicated technical teams OpenAI is also now hiring hundreds of staffers to build.
• Strategic Pivot Before settling on Anthropic, Blackstone considered a similar arrangement with OpenAI, signaling a competitive shift in how PE firms source AI expertise.

This venture illustrates a new phase of the AI race: moving past the chat interface and into the deep operational plumbing of the corporate world.

Best,

Jessica Lessin
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Anthropic in Talks With Blackstone, Other PE Firms to Form AI Consulting Venture

Anthropic is in talks with a consortium of private equity firms including Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman about forming an AI-focused joint venture to sell the Claude maker's technology to companies funded by the investment firms, according to a person involved in the discussions and another person who was briefed about it.

The recent conflict between the Department of Defense and Anthropic temporarily impacted the joint venture discussions, one of these people said, but they are ongoing, and the companies could reach an agreement.

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