Anthropic's annual revenue soars to $19 billion, plans to partner with Blackstone to establish an AI consulting company

Anthropic is accelerating its commercial expansion, with its business scale and strategic layout speeding up simultaneously.According to The Information, Anthropic is in talks with a private equity consortium led by Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman to jointly establish a joint venture focused on artificial intelligence, aimed at selling Claude technology and consulting services to the portfolio companies of the aforementioned investment institutions.Meanwhile, Anthropic's annualized revenue has surpassed $19 billion, nearly doubling from $9 billion at the end of last year, and the revenue gap with OpenAI is rapidly narrowing.The negotiations were briefly hindered by a recent dispute between Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Some executives at Blackstone are cautious about publicly announcing an alliance with Anthropic during the Pentagon controversy—Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman is a significant donor to the Republican Party and has close ties to Trump. However, according to insiders, the negotiations are still progressing, and both parties are expected to reach an agreement.Annualized Revenue Soars, Commercialization AcceleratesAnthropic's business growth momentum is strong, driven primarily by its programming tool Claude Code and workplace automation product Cowork, both of which have garnered widespread attention in the enterprise market in recent months. Annualized revenue has jumped from $9 billion at the end of last year to $19 billion, showing significant growth and allowing this relatively young AI company to accelerate its revenue catch-up with the long-established OpenAI.Although Anthropic stated in court documents that the conflict with the DOD could negatively impact its business, this controversy has also brought it significant global attention, prompting many consumers and businesses who previously knew little about the company to turn their focus toward it for the first time. Currently, Anthropic has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the DOD's decision, seeking to block the agency's related ruling.Mimicking the Palantir Model, Layout of Private Equity EcosystemAccording to insiders, the negotiations have been ongoing for several months. Initially, Blackstone primarily explored applying Anthropic's AI to its own portfolio companies; recently, both parties and other private equity firms have begun discussing the establishment of an independent joint venture specifically to undertake this business. Before approaching Anthropic, Blackstone had previously discussed similar arrangements with OpenAI.The proposed joint venture will adopt a model similar to Palantir, providing AI integration consulting services to assist enterprises in implementing Anthropic technology. This direction is highly similar to OpenAI's strategy— the latter is currently recruiting a large team of technical consultants to customize AI applications and automation processes for large enterprises. The specific investment scale of the joint venture has not yet been disclosedBlackstone owns over 250 portfolio companies, including project management software Smartsheet and dating app Bumble. Private equity firms generally face pressure to reduce costs and have a strong willingness to leverage AI to enhance employee efficiency and even cut labor costs. Notably, Blackstone has previously invested in Anthropic, holding approximately $1 billion in equity, with the latter's overall valuation around $380 billion; Blackstone is also an investor in OpenAI.Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market carries risks, and investment should be approached with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article align with their specific circumstances. Investment based on this is at one's own risk