OpenAI pursues $10 billion joint venture with private equity firms to expand enterprise reach

OpenAI Discusses $10 Billion Venture With PE Firms, Reuters Says

OpenAI is in advanced discussions to form a joint venture with private equity firms, including TPG Inc. and Bain Capital, that would focus on bolstering adoption of its AI software across their portfolio companies, Reuters reported on Monday. The joint venture would have a pre-money valuation of roughly $10 billion, Reuters said, citing people familiar with the matter. The private equity investors would commit about $4 billion toward the venture, Reuters said. Representatives for OpenAI, TPG and Bain did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI and its rivals have been pushing to convince more business professionals to pay up for their services to offset the immense cost of developing AI systems and support their lofty valuations. Those efforts have focused on sectors such as financial services and health care. The ChatGPT maker recently raised $110 billion in a deal that values the startup at $840 billion, including the money raised. OpenAI expects to bring in roughly another $10 billion from venture capital firms and sovereign wealth funds as the round progresses, Bloomberg News has reported. Meta Platforms Inc. will pay as much as $27 billion over the next five years for access to artificial intelligence infrastructure from cloud provider Nebius Group NV as it spends aggressively to compete with the industry's top frontier models. Nebius, a so-called neocloud that operates data centers and has a strategic partnership with Nvidia Corp., will provide Meta $12 billion of dedicated capacity starting in early 2027, the Dutch company said in a statement Monday. Meta also committed to buying as much as $15 billion in additional capacity that the cloud provider is building for third-party customers. The outlay represents one of the biggest single contracts that Meta has signed, underscoring the Instagram and Facebook owner's push for more computing capacity to power the development of AI products. Last year, it signed a separate $3 billion deal with Nebius. Nebius shares jumped 15% in premarket trading. The stock had closed at $112.95 in New York on Friday and has nearly quadrupled in the past 12 months. Meta gained 2.8% before the market opened after previously closing at $613.71. Meta and some of its largest tech peers are expected to spend some $650 billion in 2026 to build data centers and purchase other infrastructure in anticipation of an AI services explosion in the coming years. Meta has made AI the company's top priority, and is investing heavily to compete with rivals like OpenAI and Google. It has also inked multi-billion dollar partnership agreements with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for AI infrastructure since the start of the year. And Meta is developing its own chips in-house. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said last year that Meta will spend $600 billion on US infrastructure projects by 2028. To do so, Meta has leaned on profits generated by its advertising business, but has also raised outside financing to fund infrastructure projects. The company is developing its own high-end models and has built several AI products, including a chatbot, that is available inside its various apps. A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the Nebius deal, and said its strategy of diversifying its partnerships and technology stack for AI was part of "building a more resilient and flexible infrastructure." Nebius, which is based in Amsterdam and split off from the Russian internet giant Yandex in 2024, is one of a handful of newcomers to capitalize on the AI boom by building data centers tailor-made to train models and run services like ChatGPT. Nvidia has been using its enormous resources to finance this new breed of neoclouds that compete with larger cloud-computing providers like Google and Amazon.com Inc. Last week, Nvidia announced it will invest $2 billion in Nebius, fueling a 16% jump in the Dutch company's shares. Much of Nvidia's financing spree has gone to companies that buy its chips, leading to criticism that such circular investments are fueling a bubble. In January, Nvidia announced a similar $2 billion investment in Nebius competitor CoreWeave Inc. to deploy its products. It also put $30 billion into OpenAI this year, and participated in a $2 billion funding round for UK neocloud Nscale.

Exclusive: OpenAI courts private equity to join enterprise AI venture, sources say

NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - OpenAI is in advanced talks with private equity firms including TPG (TPG.O), opens new tab, Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.N), opens new tab to form a joint venture that would distribute its enterprise products across the firms' portfolio companies and beyond, four people familiar with the matter said. The proposed deal has a pre-money valuation of about $10 billion, two of the people said, and could give OpenAI a faster route into corporate adoption while providing the PE firms with a potential lifeline for companies in their portfolios that are exposed to AI disruption. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are aggressively courting private equity firms because they control enterprise companies and influence how businesses budget for software and AI, three of the people said -- a race growing more urgent as both companies vie to go public as soon as this year. OpenAI declined to comment on the joint venture plans. Advent, TPG and Brookfield declined to comment. Bain did not respond to requests for comment. Under the proposed arrangement, the private equity investors would commit about $4 billion ⁠and receive equity stakes in the venture, along with influence over how OpenAI's technology is deployed across their portfolio companies, two of the people said. TPG would serve as the anchor investor, committing the most capital, while Advent, Bain, and Brookfield would participate as co-founding investors. All four firms would secure board seats in the joint venture, according to people familiar with the matter, cautioning that no final decision has been taken and the plans are subject to change. The arrangement would also give the PE firms early access to OpenAI's enterprise tools and the potential to benefit when adoption expands beyond their portfolios, two people familiar with the talks said. Sources requested anonymity because the discussions are private. Anthropic is also in discussions with private equity firms, including Blackstone (BX.N), opens new tab, Permira, and Hellman & Friedman, to form a joint venture that would sell its Claude AI technology to companies backed by those firms, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. As part of the deal, the PE firms would take an equity stake of approximately $1 billion, the person said, cautioning that the plans -- including the figures -- are subject to change and no final agreement has been reached. The Information first ⁠reported last week that the Claude maker has been in discussions with Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman to form a joint venture. Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Permira declined to comment, while Anthropic did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. OpenAI is offering "preferred equity" in the venture -- a senior class of ownership that gives investors priority returns over common shareholders and limits their downside, three of the people said. In contrast, Anthropic is offering common equity, which does not come with those protections, one of the people said. The potential deals come as AI upends the calculus of private equity investing. The rapid advance of AI has rattled valuations across the ⁠software sector, made it harder for buyout firms to underwrite deals with confidence, and raised uncomfortable questions about the long-term viability of business models that automation could render obsolete. In the enterprise AI market, Anthropic is widely seen as ahead of OpenAI, with stronger adoption among corporate clients. As of the end of last month, OpenAI's enterprise business generated $10 billion out of a total annualized revenue of $25 billion, one of the people said. The ⁠deal could also help distribute OpenAI's enterprise offering, Frontier, one of the people said. Launched last month, the platform anchors a program called Frontier Alliances -- through which OpenAI pairs its forward-deployed engineers with consulting giants BCG, McKinsey, Accenture and Capgemini to help companies integrate AI agents into core business processes, Reuters reported last month. "As demand for AI continues to skyrocket, we want to help our customers ⁠deploy these technologies in all the ways that help them create impact," Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "That's why we recently announced Frontier Alliances to leverage our ecosystem of partners, and that's why we're also building a deployment arm that works directly with enterprises and partners to deeply embed AI throughout their organizations. We'll have more to share when details are finalized," Simo said. Reporting by Milana Vinn and Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul and Alexander Smith Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence Milana Vinn Thomson Reuters Milana Vinn reports on technology, media, and telecom (TMT) mergers and acquisitions. Her content usually appears in the markets and deals sections of the website. Milana previously worked at GLG and PE Hub, where she spent several years covering TMT deals in private equity. She graduated from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with Masters in Business Journalism. Echo Wang Thomson Reuters Echo Wang is a correspondent at Reuters covering U.S. equity capital markets, and the intersection of Chinese business in the U.S, breaking news from U.S. crackdown on TikTok and Grindr, to restrictions Chinese companies face in listing in New York. She was the Reuters' Reporter of the Year in 2020.

OpenAI Courts Private Equity to Join Enterprise AI Venture, Sources Say

These firms include TPG, Bain Capital, and Advent International OpenAI is in advanced talks with private equity firms including TPG, Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield Asset Management to form a joint venture that would distribute its enterprise products across the firms' portfolio companies and beyond, four people familiar with the matter said. The proposed deal has a pre-money valuation of about $10 billion, two of the people said, and could give OpenAI a faster route into corporate adoption while providing the PE firms with a potential lifeline for companies in their portfolios that are exposed to AI disruption. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are aggressively courting private equity firms because they control enterprise companies and influence how businesses budget for software and AI, three of the people said -- a race growing more urgent as both companies vie to go public as soon as this year. OpenAI declined to comment on the joint venture plans. Advent, TPG and Brookfield declined to comment. Bain did not respond to requests for comment. Under the proposed arrangement, the private equity investors would commit about $4 billion and receive equity stakes in the venture, along with influence over how OpenAI's technology is deployed across their portfolio companies, two of the people said. TPG would serve as the anchor investor, committing the most capital, while Advent, Bain, and Brookfield would participate as co-founding investors. All four firms would secure board seats in the joint venture, according to people familiar with the matter, cautioning that no final decision has been taken and the plans are subject to change. The arrangement would also give the PE firms early access to OpenAI's enterprise tools and the potential to benefit when adoption expands beyond their portfolios, two people familiar with the talks said. Sources requested anonymity because the discussions are private. Anthropic is also in discussions with private equity firms, including Blackstone, Permira, and Hellman & Friedman, to form a joint venture that would sell its Claude AI technology to companies backed by those firms, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. As part of the deal, the PE firms would take an equity stake of approximately $1 billion, the person said, cautioning that the plans -- including the figures -- are subject to change and no final agreement has been reached. The Information first reported last week that the Claude maker has been in discussions with Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman to form a joint venture. Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Permira declined to comment, while Anthropic did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. OpenAI is offering "preferred equity" in the venture -- a senior class of ownership that gives investors priority returns over common shareholders and limits their downside, three of the people said. In contrast, Anthropic is offering common equity, which does not come with those protections, one of the people said. The potential deals come as AI upends the calculus of private equity investing. The rapid advance of AI has rattled valuations across the software sector, made it harder for buyout firms to underwrite deals with confidence, and raised uncomfortable questions about the long-term viability of business models that automation could render obsolete. In the enterprise AI market, Anthropic is widely seen as ahead of OpenAI, with stronger adoption among corporate clients. As of the end of last month, OpenAI's enterprise business generated $10 billion out of a total annualized revenue of $25 billion, one of the people said. The deal could also help distribute OpenAI's enterprise offering, Frontier, one of the people said. Launched last month, the platform anchors a program called Frontier Alliances -- through which OpenAI pairs its forward-deployed engineers with consulting giants BCG, McKinsey, Accenture and Capgemini to help companies integrate AI agents into core business processes, Reuters reported last month. "As demand for AI continues to skyrocket, we want to help our customers deploy these technologies in all the ways that help them create impact," Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "That's why we recently announced Frontier Alliances to leverage our ecosystem of partners, and that's why we're also building a deployment arm that works directly with enterprises and partners to deeply embed AI throughout their organizations. We'll have more to share when details are finalized," Simo said.

OpenAI Plans $10 Billion in Partnerships With PE Firms | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. That's according to a report Monday (March 16) from Reuters, which says these arrangements, with the likes of TPG, Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield Asset Management, would involve OpenAI distributing its enterprise products among the firms' clients. The proposed deal, sources told Reuters, has a pre-money valuation of around $10 billion and could provide OpenAI with a quicker path to corporate adoption, while giving PE firms a lifeline for portfolio companies facing AI disruption. According to the sources, both OpenAI and rival Anthropic are aggressively courting PE firms because they control enterprise companies and have some say in these businesses' software and AI spending. Under the proposal, the PE investors would contribute about $4 billion and receive equity stakes in the venture, as well as influence over how OpenAI's technology is deployed at their portfolio companies, two of the sources said. TPG would act as the anchor investor, putting up the most money, while Advent, Bain, and Brookfield would be co-founding investors. All four PE firms would have board seats in the joint venture, sources told Reuters. In addition, the report continued, the partnership would offer PE firms early access to OpenAI's enterprise tools with the potential to benefit when adoption moves beyond their portfolio firms. PYMNTS has contacted OpenAI for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. As covered here last month, the growth of enterprise AI is emerging at a critical juncture in the enterprise software landscape. Following years of software lockups across inflexible and monolithic solutions, corporate customers are increasingly asking for more from their B2B vendors now that they know better tools are available. "For B2B payments, this moment is especially consequential. Payments sit at the intersection of finance, operations, risk and trust," PYMNTS wrote. "They are repetitive, data-rich and historically manual, representing exactly the sort of environment where AI should shine. At the same time, they are unforgiving when it comes to workflow failures and downtime." The challenge for C-suite executives, as the report added, is distinguishing between AI applications that genuinely improve decision quality and resilience and those that merely accelerate existing inefficiencies or could ultimately prove too fragile for the security-critical heavy lifting performed by many enterprise systems.