Anthropic in Talks With Blackstone and PE Firms for AI Venture

Anthropic is reportedly in discussions with Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman to launch a Palantir-style AI consulting joint venture for enterprise deployment.

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI models, is reportedly in discussions with a group of private equity firm including Blackstone and Hellman & Friedma to establish a new venture centered on artificial intelligence deployment. Additionally, firms such as Permira are also part of the ongoing discussions, which were first reported by The Information.

Rather than a straightforward funding deal, the proposed structure is more nuanced. The joint venture would focus on selling its technology to companies owned or financed by the investment firms, and the partnership could mirror the model used by Palantir, which combines software deployment with consulting services to help organizations integrate advanced technologies into their operations.

In other words, if finalized, this would not simply be a capital injection. Instead, the joint venture would provide advisory and implementation support to help portfolio companies adopt it’s AI tools, allowing private equity firms to accelerate digital transformation across their holdings while offering Anthropic a structured path to expand enterprise usage of its models.

The interest from PE firms is, moreover, not surprising given broader market trends. Private equity wants a seat at the AI table not only because portfolios are full of software companies under pressure, but also because many of their portfolio companies don’t fully know how to integrate AI. More than a few CEOs have lamented the time and money already lost on failed AI experiments.

For Anthropic, on the other hand, the incentive is equally clear. This is about pushing deeper into the enterprise, where the checks are bigger and the revenue is usually recurring.

It is important to note, however, that no final agreement has been reached. Talks were briefly affected by a dispute between Anthropic and the US government over restrictions on the military use of its AI systems. Nevertheless, Reuters reported that the Pentagon later indicated that it’s tools, including Claude, could continue to be used beyond an earlier planned phase-out period if deemed critical to national security.

Furthermore, the talks began several months ago before Anthropic’s dispute with the Pentagon and it remains unclear whether either deal would require exclusivity.

This joint venture development comes, furthermore, at a time of remarkable financial momentum for Anthropic. The company recently raised $30 billion in a Series G funding round led by GIC and Coatue, valuing Anthropic at $380 billion post-money. The company’s revenue run rate topped $9 billion at the end of 2025, more than doubling from roughly $4 billion the previous summer.
Consequently, a successful PE joint venture would give Anthropic yet another powerful distribution channel one specifically designed to embed Claude across hundreds of enterprise businesses at once.

Disclaimer: This report is based on information reported by WSJ. NervNow has not independently verified the claims.

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