The OpenAI Deployment Company, backed by TPG and other private equity firms, will acquire consulting firm Tomoro to staff up from day one
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A new company backed by more than $4 billion in initial capital is being stood up by OpenAI to support organizations in adopting and scaling artificial intelligence, with the acquisition of AI consulting firm Tomoro set to provide immediate staffing for the venture.
According to OpenAI, the venture — named the OpenAI Deployment Company — is designed to place AI deployment engineers directly inside client organizations, partnering with those companies' own teams to pinpoint the highest-value opportunities for artificial intelligence. OpenAI will hold a majority ownership and control stake in the venture.
Through the Tomoro deal, the new unit gains roughly 150 engineers and specialists in AI deployment who will be available to the organization from the moment it launches, the company said. Tomoro, formed in 2023 in alliance with OpenAI, counts Mattel, Red Bull, Tesco, and Virgin Atlantic among its clients, according to Reuters.
Nineteen firms have joined OpenAI in the arrangement, which is structured as a long-term committed partnership. TPG holds the lead position, with Advent, Bain Capital, and Brookfield rounding out the group as co-lead founding partners, OpenAI said.
The move comes as OpenAI has been working to expand its corporate presence following early success with consumer-facing products. Rival Anthropic has built a strong position among enterprise and developer customers, driven by its Claude family of models.
OpenAI narrowed its focus to coding tools and enterprise customers earlier this year, an acknowledgment that its broad product strategy had ceded ground to Anthropic. At a company-wide meeting, Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of applications, told staff that Anthropic's gains should serve as a "wake-up call" and said the company needed to "nail productivity" for business customers. "We cannot miss this moment because we are distracted by side quests," she told staff. OpenAI has also placed engineers with consulting firms and corporate partners as part of its broader enterprise push.
Earlier reporting from Reuters had revealed that joint ventures tied to both OpenAI and Anthropic — each formed independently with private equity backing — were pursuing acquisitions of firms specializing in business AI deployment.
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