OpenAI offers attractive private equity deals in enterprise AI race

Monday 23 March 2026 - 11:45

OpenAI is sweetening its pitch to private equity firms with a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% as it competes with rival Anthropic to form joint ventures aimed at raising capital and accelerating adoption of enterprise AI products. According to sources familiar with the discussions, OpenAI is also offering early access to its latest AI models to attract investors such as TPG and Advent.

The strategy marks OpenAI’s stronger push into enterprise AI, an area where Anthropic has traditionally held an advantage. By contrast, Anthropic’s private equity deals focused on enterprise offer no guaranteed returns. Both companies are racing to secure partnerships that could deploy AI tools to hundreds of private companies owned by buyout firms, boosting adoption and customer retention at scale.

As OpenAI and Anthropic vie for lucrative business clients, they are positioning themselves for potential public listings later this year. The competition underscores the growing stakes in the enterprise AI market as both firms seek to expand their influence beyond consumer-facing applications.