OpenAI and Anthropic Rivals Share 90 Common Investors Despite Competition
Original: OpenAI and Anthropic May Be Rivals, but Investors Aren’t Picking Sides
Why This Matters
Shows investor hedging strategy in uncertain AI market competition
About 90 venture capital firms have invested in both OpenAI and Anthropic, with OpenAI sharing 42% of its investors with its rival. Major firms like Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund back both AI companies despite fierce competition.
A WIRED analysis of PitchBook data reveals that approximately 90 venture capital firms have invested in both OpenAI and Anthropic, despite the companies being fierce competitors. OpenAI shares about 42% of its overall investors with Anthropic, while roughly a third of Anthropic's investors also back OpenAI. Major firms including Sequoia Capital, Greylock, Founders Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Sound Ventures have stakes in both companies. In Anthropic's recent fundraising announcement last week, at least 13 of the 31 named investors also have OpenAI stakes. Harvard Business School professor Tom Nicholas called this ownership structure unprecedented, reflecting investor uncertainty about whether AI will be a winner-take-all market. The overlap may provide investors with better odds of success as both companies prepare for potential IPOs this year.