OpenAI's Near-Merger with Anthropic Exposes Governance Cracks and Leadership Feud

OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever's recent deposition in Elon Musk's lawsuit against CEO Sam Altman and the company has revealed a tumultuous period in which OpenAI nearly merged with rival Anthropic following Altman's brief removal from the CEO role in late 2023. The 10-hour testimony, part of Musk's legal battle over OpenAI's restructuring, detailed how board members, including Helen Toner, actively explored a merger that would have seen Anthropic assume leadership of OpenAI—a move Sutskever described as "very unhappy" in Sutskever's deposition.

The proposed merger emerged within days of Altman's ousting, with Anthropic's leadership, including CEO Dario Amodei and president Daniela Amodei, expressing enthusiasm for the partnership while acknowledging practical challenges, according to the reporting. Sutskever, then a board member, was an outlier in opposing the merger, which ultimately dissolved due to unresolved obstacles. "They were a lot more supportive," Sutskever said of other board members, highlighting Toner as the "most supportive" of the proposal. The deposition underscores governance missteps, including a rushed decision-making process and reliance on unverified claims from OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, which Sutskever later admitted were "secondhand knowledge" in a Decrypt account.

Meanwhile, Anthropic has emerged as a formidable competitor, projecting $70 billion in revenue by 2028 driven by aggressive B2B expansion and partnerships with Microsoft, Salesforce, and consulting giants Deloitte and Cognizant in The Outpost analysis. The company's API revenue is expected to surpass OpenAI's this year, with Claude Code nearing $1 billion in annualized revenue, according to that reporting. Anthropic's financial trajectory, including improved gross margins and plans for a potential $300–$400 billion valuation round, contrasts with OpenAI's anticipated losses, which could reach $115 billion through 2029 due to infrastructure investments, as noted in a Yahoo Finance article.

The legal and strategic tensions between Musk and Altman have further intensified. OpenAI's recent restructuring into a for-profit public benefit corporation—valued at $130 billion—has drawn scrutiny from Musk, who accused Altman of "stealing a non-profit" in a Markets.com piece. Altman defended the shift as necessary to achieve OpenAI's mission, while Musk's xAI continues to position itself as a rival. The feud has spilled into public domains, with Altman canceling a Tesla Roadster order and Musk retaliating over OpenAI's governance changes.

OpenAI's future remains uncertain as it navigates legal battles, internal restructuring, and competition from Anthropic. The company has hinted at a potential IPO by 2027 but faces significant financial hurdles, including projected cash burn exceeding $14 billion annually through 2026, according to a Seeking Alpha report. For Anthropic, the path to $70 billion in revenue hinges on scaling enterprise adoption, optimizing model efficiency, and maintaining its B2B-first strategy, as discussed in a FindArticles analysis.