OpenAI and Anthropic Clash for Enterprise AI Dominance Ahead of Potential IPOs

OpenAI is mobilizing consulting partners and emphasizing its compute advantage to reclaim enterprise customers from Anthropic as both AI labs accelerate toward potential initial public offerings (IPOs).

Why it matters: The outcome of this rivalry could determine which company enters the public markets with strong momentum and which must justify to investors why it is losing ground.

Driving the News

OpenAI is actively working to capture market share from Anthropic’s enterprise business. The AI lab is engaging over half a dozen consulting partners to assist enterprises in deploying and scaling Codex, OpenAI’s coding tool. These partners will receive early access to AI tools with the goal of helping enterprises “rethink their business processes in the age of AI in a different way,” according to chief revenue officer Denise Dresser, who spoke to Axios.

Broader Enterprise Strategy

This effort is part of OpenAI’s strategic shift toward enterprise revenue, following the widespread adoption of Claude Code, which led businesses to spend more with Anthropic than with OpenAI, per Ramp.

In a memo to OpenAI employees last week, Dresser stated that “the market is as competitive as I have ever seen it.”

Competitive Dynamics

OpenAI and Anthropic are locked in competition across multiple fronts—compute capacity, enterprise adoption, and model quality—as both labs race toward IPOs that could materialize as soon as this fall.

“Everyone's operating in winner-take-all mode” and this is occurring “at every layer of the tech stack,” says Anuj Kapur, CEO of AI software delivery platform CloudBees.

Investor demand currently appears stronger for Anthropic than OpenAI in secondary markets, according to multiple reports.

If OpenAI does not quickly close the revenue gap, Anthropic could “take a lead here that, let’s say, over the next one or two years, could be insurmountable,” said David Sacks, tech investor and White House adviser, on the All-In podcast.

Compute Capacity and Growth

Growth in the AI sector compounds over time: as models are used more, they can improve due to increased data volume. More paying customers can generate additional revenue, which can then be reinvested into more compute capacity.

However, OpenAI asserts that it holds an advantage in compute capacity, a claim highlighted in a recent investor letter reviewed by Axios.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that aggressive compute scaling carries risks due to high costs and uncertain demand, even as the company announced on Monday an expanded partnership with Amazon to secure up to 5 gigawatts of additional compute capacity.

An OpenAI investor told Axios that superior compute capacity is the company’s key advantage, enabling more experimentation and helping it maintain a lead in model performance.

The Bottom Line

OpenAI is investing heavily to expand its user base, while Anthropic is prioritizing margin protection. Both companies are engaged in a high-stakes battle as they aim for what could be the largest IPOs in tech history.