Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reflected on a missed opportunity to invest in OpenAI, revealing in a recent podcast that he wanted to back the AI pioneer but was unable to due to its partnership with Microsoft. Instead, Salesforce chose to invest in its competitor, Anthropic, which Benioff now believes could lead to substantial financial returns.
Benioff emphasized that Salesforce’s strategy evolved after recognizing they could not invest in OpenAI. Following that, they redirected their focus to Anthropic, forming a robust partnership that integrated Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, into Salesforce products, including Slackbot.
Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic, although undisclosed, may see its value increase with an anticipated IPO from the AI company. While both Anthropic and OpenAI are considering public listings, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has indicated that their IPO will not occur in 2026.
