Anthropic has announced a new $1.5 billion joint venture with major Wall Street firms including Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. According to the AI startup, the new joint venture will be an AI services company that will sell its tools to companies.

Anthropic and OpenAI are launching new AI service companies that may take on Indian IT firms. (Representational image made with AI)

Anthropic has announced a new joint venture. The AI startup has partnered with major Wall Street firms, including, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs. The joint venture forms a new AI service company that will “work with mid-sized companies” and bring Claude AI models into their core operations.

The new services company may compete against other SaaS companies, including TCS, Wipro and Infosys, by providing AI tools as a service. Anthropic's Claude Cowork has previously rattled Indian IT stocks over fears of a SaaSpocalypse. Do note that OpenAI is also said to be working on a similar standalone firm, but more on that later.

As per a report from the Wall Street Journal, the new joint venture is estimated to have a total investment of $1.5 billion. Anthropic, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman are likely to pour $300 million each, with Goldman Sachs expected to put in around $150 million.

Anthropic states that alongside the founding partners of the new company, it is also backed by a consortium that includes the likes of General Atlantic, Leonard Green, Apollo Global Management, GIC, and Sequoia Capital.

Another SaaSpocalypse for Indian IT?

Indian IT companies like TCS and Infosys are SaaS providers, that is, they provide software-as-a-service. However, the new joint ventures from Anthropic and OpenAI could put pressure on these companies, as it will make it easier for clients to get AI tools, with tailored deployment based on their needs. The backing from Wall Street firms may also allow for better reach, expanding the client base for AI tools.

On X, some have already raised alarms over the potential threat to Indian IT companies. One user wrote, "Indian IT services companies just got the competition they weren’t preparing for." Another person added, "Not great news for Indian IT services."

What will Anthropic’s new joint venture do?

Anthropic said the new company will design, build and maintain enterprise AI deployments across an initial customer base that includes portfolio companies of investment firms as well as independent companies that can benefit from the platform.

It will serve as what the company described as an accelerant for AI adoption among mid-sized businesses, with teams working to identify where Claude can have the greatest effect, build custom tools and support customers. That is, the new services company will work directly with Anthropic’s engineers to understand how Claude’s AI models can be integrated with a client firm.

How will this work?

The company outlined how a typical engagement would work, saying it would begin with a small team working closely with a customer to understand where Claude can have the biggest impact.

Anthropic gave the example of a multi-site healthcare services group, such as a network of physician practices, where clinicians spend hours on documentation, medical coding and compliance reviews. In that example, engineers would sit with clinicians and IT staff to build tools that fit into existing workflows, using the knowledge of the staff to reduce administrative work and leave more time for patient care.

Anthropic said the model is meant to address a specific engineering challenge in AI deployment. Since the new firm’s team will work closely with Anthropic’s research and product teams, the implementations will be designed to adapt from the start rather than operate like traditional software installations.

The new firm will also become part of Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network, which includes consulting and systems integration firms such as Accenture, Deloitte and PwC.

OpenAI to follow suit?

Just hours before Anthropic’s announcement, a report from Bloomberg stated that OpenAI, Anthropic’s chief rival, was working on a similar firm. OpenAI is said to be raising funds for a similar venture called The Development Company. That proposed vehicle was reported to be larger in scale, seeking $4 billion from 19 investors at a $10 billion valuation, with named investors including TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent and Bain Capital.

The report states there was no apparent overlap in investment between the OpenAI and Anthropic-backed ventures.

Both companies are increasingly focused on the enterprise market, where private equity-backed companies are seen as an attractive target because many are already under pressure to improve efficiency and cut costs. Anthropic is widely seen as the leader in that market, though OpenAI is trying to catch up.

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