OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, is in talks to commit up to $1.5 billion to a new joint venture with private equity firms designed to accelerate enterprise adoption of its workplace tools.
The company plans to invest an initial $500 million of equity into the venture, known internally as DeployCo, which is expected to be valued at $10 billion in a funding round set to close in early May.
OpenAI would retain the option to invest a further $1 billion at a later stage.
DeployCo is structured as a Delaware-registered limited liability company in which OpenAI will hold super-voting shares, giving it effective control over the venture's direction.
Private equity backers including TPG, Bain Capital, Advent International, Brookfield and Goanna Capital are expected to contribute roughly $4 billion.
Those investors would commit capital for five years, with OpenAI guaranteeing them an annual return of 17.5%, described as a floor with potential upside beyond that level.
The venture is designed to generate revenue by embedding AI tools within portfolio companies owned by its private equity partners, charging clients for integration and deployment services.
DeployCo will adopt a "forward-deployed engineers" model similar to that pioneered by Palantir, the data analytics firm, where technical staff are placed directly inside client businesses to support implementation.
OpenAI is also working with consulting firms McKinsey and Accenture as part of the broader enterprise push.
The structure would give OpenAI a direct channel into the private equity ecosystem, where buyout firms are under growing pressure to drive operational efficiencies across their holdings using AI.
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OpenAI may also use its equity position in DeployCo to pursue future acquisitions of technology and intellectual property.
The move is widely seen as an effort to compete more directly with Anthropic, which has recorded strong revenue growth from its Claude AI products and is reportedly exploring a similar private equity partnership with Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman.
The recap
- OpenAI negotiating stake in a private-equity joint venture.
- $1.5 billion is the reported maximum potential commitment size.
- Full article is available only behind the FT paywall.
