OpenAI Lures Private Equity with Guaranteed Return to Outpace Anthropic in Enterprise AI

OpenAI is reportedly offering private equity firms a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% as part of efforts to attract them into joint ventures aimed at raising fresh capital, Reuters reported.

These terms are significantly more attractive than typical preferred investment instruments and are designed to outcompete rival Anthropic, while accelerating the adoption of enterprise AI products.

The move reportedly reflects OpenAI’s increasing focus on the enterprise segment, an area where Anthropic has traditionally held an edge. Unlike OpenAI’s proposal, Anthropic’s enterprise-focused private equity deals reportedly do not offer guaranteed returns.

Anthropic vs OpenAI in Enterprise

Both companies are now reportedly competing to partner with buyout firms that control large portfolios of established businesses, enabling rapid deployment of AI tools across hundreds of companies. Such partnerships are expected to drive large-scale adoption and enhance customer retention.

The competition comes as both OpenAI and Anthropic seek to secure high-value enterprise clients while positioning themselves for potential public listings, possibly as early as this year. The joint venture model is also expected to help absorb the high upfront costs associated with deploying engineers to customise AI models for clients. This structure could ease financial pressures ahead of an IPO and provide clearer segment-level reporting, strengthening the overall investment narrative.

This strategy marks a relatively new approach in the AI sector, with both companies racing to secure similar partnerships with private equity firms to gain scale and market advantage.

OpenAI Code Red

Separately, OpenAI has intensified its internal focus on its core product. In December 2025, CEO Sam Altman reportedly declared a “code red,” directing the company to prioritise improvements to ChatGPT amid rising competition from Google and Anthropic.

The directive followed the launch of Google’s Gemini 3 and Anthropic’s Opus 4.5, which, according to industry benchmarks and early reviews, have outperformed OpenAI’s GPT-5 in several areas.

As part of this effort, OpenAI has reportedly deferred work on several new initiatives, including advertising integrations, specialised shopping and health agents, and its personalised update feed, Pulse. Resources are being reallocated toward improving reliability and accelerating feature upgrades, with increased coordination and temporary staff reassignment to support these goals.