According to informed sources, ChatGPT developer OpenAI is presenting private equity firms with more attractive terms than its competitor Anthropic. The two artificial intelligence companies are currently competing to partner with private equity firms to establish joint ventures, aiming to raise fresh capital and accelerate the deployment of enterprise-grade AI products.

Two sources indicated that OpenAI is offering private equity firms an investment in preferred shares, promising a minimum return rate of 17.5%, a level notably higher than typical preferred investment instruments. Three sources added that OpenAI is also providing potential partners with priority access to its latest AI models, in an effort to attract investors such as TPG and Advent to join its joint venture.

OpenAI has recently intensified its focus on the enterprise market, an area where Anthropic has traditionally held a strong position. Sources further noted that, by comparison, Anthropic's previous private equity partnership proposals for enterprise clients did not include such return guarantees.

OpenAI and Anthropic are racing to form partnerships with private equity firms. These collaborations would enable the AI companies to rapidly deploy their AI tools across the hundreds of established private companies within a private equity firm's portfolio, thereby driving large-scale adoption of their models and strengthening customer loyalty.

Both companies are competing to secure more lucrative enterprise clients for their AI services, partly in preparation for potential initial public offerings that could occur as early as this year.

Two insiders explained that the joint venture structure helps share the significant upfront costs associated with dispatching engineers to customize models for clients. This alleviates pre-IPO cost pressures for OpenAI and Anthropic and provides clearer segment reporting to support their IPO narratives.

The race by OpenAI and Anthropic to establish such partnerships with private equity firms represents a relatively new strategy within the AI industry.

Matt Kropp from the AI practice at Binah Capital Group Inc commented, "There is a fierce competition underway to lock in as many enterprise customers and business units as possible." He added that once a company integrates a customized AI model into its systems, switching to a competitor becomes significantly more difficult.

OpenAI, TPG, and Advent all declined to comment. Anthropic did not respond to requests for comment.