OpenAI-Anthropic enterprise rivalry heats up

[Skip to main content](https://www.axios.com/2026/04/21/openai-anthropic-enterprise-rivalry-heats-up#main-content) * [](https://www.axios.com/) * [Newsletters](https://www.axios.com/newsletters) * Axios LocalShow * [Axios Pro](https://www.axios.com/pro/all-deals) * [Axios Live](https://www.axios.com/events) * [The Axios Show](https://www.axios.com/the-axios-show) Login [Axios](https://www.axios.com/) [](https://www.axios.com/results) All topics [Axios ](https://www.axios.com/) Search 2 hours ago - [Technology](https://www.axios.com/technology) # OpenAI-Anthropic enterprise rivalry heats up  * [Madison Mills](https://www.axios.com/authors/mmills) * email (opens in new window) * sms (opens in new window) * facebook (opens in new window) twitter (opens in new window) linkedin (opens in new window) bluesky (opens in new window) [Add Axios on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=axios.com) Add Axios as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. [Add Axios on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=axios.com)  Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios OpenAI is mobilizing consulting partners and touting its compute edge to claw back enterprise customers from Anthropic, as both labs barrel toward potential IPOs. **Why it matters:** The outcome of this fight could determine which company hits the public markets with momentum, and which has to explain to investors why it's losing ground. **Driving the news:** OpenAI is working to take market share from Anthropic's enterprise business. * The [AI](https://www.axios.com/technology/automation-and-ai) lab is engaging several consulting partners to help enterprises deploy and scale Codex, OpenAI's coding tool. * Partners will get early access to AI tools in hopes that they can help enterprises "rethink their business processes in the age of AI in a different way," chief revenue officer Denise Dresser told Axios. **Zoom out:** It's part of OpenAI's broader shift toward enterprise revenue, after Claude Code's mass adoption led to businesses [spending more money](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/18/ai-enterprise-revenue-anthropic-openai) with Anthropic than OpenAI, per Ramp. * Dresser told OpenAI employees in a memo last week that "the market is as competitive as I have ever seen it." **Between the lines:** OpenAI and Anthropic are competing on everything from compute to enterprise adoption to model quality as both labs race toward [IPOs](https://www.axios.com/2026/04/03/anthropic-openai-ipo) that could come as soon as this fall. * "Everyone's operating in winner-take-all mode" and that's happening at "every layer of the tech stack," says Anuj Kapur, CEO of AI software delivery platform CloudBees. * Investor demand appears stronger for [Anthropic](https://www.wsj.com/pro/venture-capital/anthropic-takes-top-spot-in-trading-on-secondary-platform-augment-daa865b9?eafs_enabled=false) than OpenAI in secondary markets, according to multiple [reports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-01/openai-demand-sinks-on-secondary-market-as-anthropic-runs-hot). **If OpenAI doesn't catch up on revenue soon,** Anthropic could "take a lead here that, let's say, over the next one or two years, could be insurmountable," David Sacks, tech investor and White House [adviser](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/30/david-sacks-trump-ai-agenda-plan), said on the "[All-In](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFdqX7IY7RY)" podcast. * Growth compounds in the AI world: Models could get smarter over time due to more volume usage, for example. * More paying customers could mean more revenue, which could be used to buy more compute. **Yes, but:** OpenAI says it's ahead of Anthropic on compute capacity, which it highlighted in a recent investor letter reviewed by Axios. * Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has cautioned that aggressively scaling compute is risky given its high costs and uncertain demand, even as the company [announced](https://www.axios.com/2026/04/21/anthropic-amazon-compute-wars) on Monday an expanded [Amazon partnership](https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-amazon-compute) to secure up to 5 gigawatts of additional compute. * An OpenAI investor tells Axios that greater compute capacity is OpenAI's key advantage, as it can fuel more experimentation and keep Sam Altman's firm ahead on model performance. **The bottom line:** OpenAI is spending to grow users, Anthropic is spending to protect margins, and both are battling toward the biggest IPOs in history. * email (opens in new window) * sms (opens in new window) * facebook (opens in new window) twitter (opens in new window) linkedin (opens in new window) bluesky (opens in new window) [Add Axios on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=axios.com) ##### What to read next *  *  *  *  *  Smarter, faster on what matters. 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