Dual Investments Blur Traditional Boundaries

Recent funding activity in the artificial‑intelligence sector shows a growing number of venture capital firms placing capital in both OpenAI and Anthropic, two leading AI labs that are often viewed as direct competitors. Investors that were originally associated with OpenAI, including Founders Fund, Iconiq, Insight Partners, and Sequoia Capital, were announced as participants in Anthropic’s large fundraising effort. This overlap signals a shift away from the long‑standing practice of investors maintaining exclusive stakes in a single startup to avoid conflicts of interest.

BlackRock’s Involvement Highlights Board‑Level Tensions

Affiliated funds of BlackRock also joined Anthropic’s capital raise, even though a senior BlackRock executive, Adebayo Ogunlesi, serves on OpenAI’s board of directors. BlackRock’s broad range of investment vehicles—mutual funds, closed‑ends, and ETFs—means that its various funds may independently decide to acquire stakes in both companies, regardless of board affiliations. This situation underscores how large asset managers can navigate around traditional loyalty expectations.

Venture Capital’s Unique Fiduciary Role

Unlike hedge funds or asset managers that primarily focus on public equities, venture capital firms typically take board seats and receive confidential information from the private companies they back. This fiduciary relationship traditionally implies a duty to support a portfolio company against its rivals. The current trend of dual investments challenges that duty, prompting founders to reconsider conflict‑of‑interest clauses before signing term sheets.

Founder Perspectives and Historical Context

Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator and current leader of OpenAI, has a history of managing rival concerns. In 2024, he reportedly provided investors with a list of companies he considered rivals—many of which later emerged as competitors, including Anthropic. While Altman denied that investors would be barred from future rounds for backing those rivals, he indicated that “non‑passive” investments could lead to loss of access to OpenAI’s confidential business data, according to lawsuit documents.

Selective Dual‑Investment Strategies

Not all venture capital firms have embraced the dual‑investment approach. Some, like Andreessen Horowitz, continue to back only OpenAI, while others such as Menlo Ventures remain exclusive to Anthropic. A handful of firms, including Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Greenoaks, appear to keep their investments limited to a single AI lab.

Implications for the AI Funding Landscape

The unprecedented scale of capital flowing into AI labs—highlighted by OpenAI’s near‑finalization of a $100 billion round and Anthropic’s $30 billion raise—creates pressure on investors to participate, even if it means crossing traditional loyalty lines. As the demand for data‑center capacity and high‑return potential grows, the willingness to back multiple rivals may become more common, reshaping the venture capital ecosystem.

Future Considerations for Founders and Investors

Founders are likely to scrutinize conflict‑of‑interest policies more closely when negotiating term sheets, ensuring that board seats and information sharing remain protected. Meanwhile, investors must balance the lucrative opportunities presented by the AI boom with the ethical and fiduciary responsibilities inherent in their roles. The evolving dynamics suggest that the old rule of exclusive loyalty may be giving way to a new paradigm of shared investment in competing AI ventures.

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