OpenAI and Anthropic intensify enterprise AI push as business customers become primary revenue focus

OpenAI, Anthropic set sights on enterprise customers at Davos

Enterprise customers account for roughly 40% of OpenAI's business and 80% of Anthropic's business, executives said. Artificial intelligence startups OpenAI and Anthropic have their sights set on enterprise customers this year as they race to win more revenue, users and market share. In separate interviews with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar highlighted enterprise as a key revenue driver for their businesses. Enterprise customers account for roughly 40% of OpenAI's business as of January, but Friar said she expects that figure to grow to closer to 50% by the end of the year. OpenAI announced in November that more than 1 million business customers around the world are using the company's technology. OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit AI lab in 2015, and its valuation has swelled to $500 billion since the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022. "We're an incredibly strong business today," Friar said Wednesday. "As we look forward, for us, it's eyes on the prize of, 'How do we add value to the consumer? How do we add value to enterprises? And how do we close this capability gap?' You're going to hear us talk about this over and over again."

Enterprise customers are focus of OpenAI, Anthropic

AI companies OpenAI (OPENAI) and Anthropic (ANTHRO) have their eyes on enterprise customers this year as they race to win more revenue, users, and market share, CNBC reported. On Tuesday, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei said at the World Economic Forum, or Both companies emphasized a strategic focus on enterprise customers, highlighting enterprise as a key and growing revenue driver. As of January, about 40% of OpenAI's business comes from enterprises, expected to reach 50%. About 80% of Anthropic's business comes from enterprises. Anthropic views enterprises as a stable, predictable income source and believes its focus on AI safety and reliability aligns with enterprise needs.

OpenAI and Anthropic Compete for Enterprise Clients | PYMNTS.com

Both companies are looking to increase their market share in this segment, the report said, citing interviews with company executives. OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told CNBC in an interview that she expects the share of OpenAI's business that is made up of enterprise customers to increase from the current 40% to 50% by the end of the year, according to the report. "As we look forward, for us, it's eyes on the prize of, 'How do we add value to the consumer? How do we add value to enterprises? And how do we close this capability gap?' You're going to hear us talk about this over and over again," Friar said, per the report. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told CNBC in a separate interview that enterprises account for 80% of Anthropic's business and that the company finds them to be a relatively stable source of income, according to the report. "Since the beginning, Anthropic has thought in terms of safety and reliability of AI systems, and one of the things we realized is that that was very synergistic with working with enterprises as compared to consumers," Amodei said, per the report. OpenAI said in November that it had gained more than 1 million business customers, which made it "the fastest-growing business platform in history." "Our enterprise momentum is fueled in part by consumer adoption," the company said at the time in a blog post. "With more than 800 million weekly users already familiar with ChatGPT, adoption and ROI within businesses is realized more rapidly -- pilots are shorter, and rollouts face less friction." OpenAI released a report in December that said there was broader adoption and deeper integration of AI across business functions. The company's report said enterprise workers attributed 40 minutes to 60 minutes of daily time savings to AI use, with data science, engineering and communications roles reporting the highest gains at 60 minutes to 80 minutes per active day. Anthropic Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger said in March that Anthropic was focusing on enterprise customers and concentrating on how its technology could "help with knowledge work" for "people who spend all day in meetings or in Excel or Google Docs." In December, Anthropic said it teamed up with consulting firm Accenture to help companies scale AI projects and to "help enterprise clients use our smartest AI models to make major productivity gains." For all PYMNTS AI and B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily AI and B2B Newsletters.