Anthropic and OpenAI are both launching joint ventures for enterprise AI services
Anthropic and OpenAI are both launching joint ventures for enterprise AI services
Anthropic 和 OpenAI 均宣布成立合资企业，旨在提供企业级 AI 服务
On Monday, Anthropic announced a joint venture focusing on deploying enterprise AI services. Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs will be founding partners in the new venture, which is backed by a group of VCs, hedge funds, and private equity firms, including Apollo Global Management, General Atlantic, GIC, Leonard Green, and Sequoia Capital.
周一，Anthropic 宣布成立一家专注于部署企业级 AI 服务的合资企业。黑石集团（Blackstone）、Hellman & Friedman 以及高盛（Goldman Sachs）将成为该新合资企业的创始合伙人。此外，该项目还获得了包括阿波罗全球管理公司（Apollo Global Management）、泛大西洋投资集团（General Atlantic）、新加坡政府投资公司（GIC）、Leonard Green 和红杉资本（Sequoia Capital）在内的一众风险投资机构、对冲基金和私募股权公司的支持。
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported news of the partnership, reported the new venture was valued at $1.5 billion, which includes a $300 million commitment each from Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman. The announcement comes just as Anthropic’s chief rival is preparing to make a similar move.
最先报道这一合作消息的《华尔街日报》称，该合资企业的估值为 15 亿美元，其中包括 Anthropic、黑石集团和 Hellman & Friedman 各自承诺投入的 3 亿美元。就在 Anthropic 发布此公告之际，其主要竞争对手也正准备采取类似行动。
Mere hours before the Anthropic announcement, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI was raising funds for a new venture called The Development Company, along very similar lines. OpenAI’s venture would operate at a larger scale, raising $4 billion from 19 investors against a $10 billion valuation. Named investors include TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Advent, and Bain Capital, with no apparent overlap in investment between the OpenAI venture and Anthropic’s competitor.
在 Anthropic 发布公告前几个小时，彭博社报道称，OpenAI 正在为一家名为“开发公司”（The Development Company）的新合资企业筹集资金，其运作模式非常相似。OpenAI 的合资企业规模更大，计划从 19 位投资者处筹集 40 亿美元，估值达到 100 亿美元。已知的投资者包括 TPG、博枫资产管理（Brookfield Asset Management）、Advent 和贝恩资本（Bain Capital），目前看来 OpenAI 的合资企业与 Anthropic 的合资项目在投资者方面并无重叠。
The overall logic of the two ventures is the same, raising money from alternative asset managers to create new channels for enterprise AI deals. The ventures will presumably get preferred sales access to their investors’ portfolio companies, while the investors will capture more value from any resulting contracts.
这两家合资企业的核心逻辑如出一辙：通过从另类资产管理公司筹集资金，为企业级 AI 业务创造新的渠道。预计这些合资企业将获得对其投资者旗下投资组合公司的优先销售权，而投资者则能从由此产生的合同中获取更多价值。
The new capital will also allow more engineering resources to be devoted to each individual, embracing the forward-deployed engineer (FDE) model popularized by Palantir. As Anthropic put it in its announcement: “An engagement might begin with the company’s engineering team sitting down with clinicians and IT staff to build tools that fit into the workflows that staff already use… Engagements like this will run across mid-sized companies across industries, each shaped by the people closest to the work.”
新的资金还将允许投入更多的工程资源，采用 Palantir 所推广的“前线部署工程师”（FDE）模式。正如 Anthropic 在公告中所述：“合作可能始于公司工程团队与临床医生及 IT 人员坐下来沟通，共同构建符合员工现有工作流程的工具……此类合作将覆盖各行各业的中型企业，并由最了解工作内容的人员来塑造具体方案。”
The new ventures come as both AI labs fundraise at a blistering pace, while circling possible IPOs. OpenAI announced $122 billion in new funding at the end of March, against a valuation of $852 billion. TechCrunch reported last week that Anthropic is in the final stages of its own funding round, seeking $50 billion of new funding against a $900 billion valuation.
这两家 AI 实验室在以惊人的速度筹集资金的同时，也在筹划可能的首次公开募股（IPO），在此背景下，这些新合资企业应运而生。OpenAI 在 3 月底宣布获得 1220 亿美元的新融资，估值为 8520 亿美元。TechCrunch 上周报道称，Anthropic 正处于其融资轮次的最后阶段，寻求以 9000 亿美元的估值筹集 500 亿美元的新资金。