Marc Benioff says Salesforce’s investment in Anthropic was a plan B that could pay off in ‘tens of billions’0

• acquisition, AI, Anthropic, big-tech, bond-market, Business, Business / Artificial Intelligence, Business / Big Tech, Business / Companies, Business / Computers and Software, Business / Markets, Business / Social Media, business-idea, business-insider-today, business-strategy, CoECI News, Deals, E! Insider, Energy & Environment Newsletter, Finance, Gaming News Roundup, Gear / Gear News and Events, Global, Global Precipitation, global warming, globalstar, HEALTH, Home, House, insider-picks, insider-picks-guides, insider-reviews, insider-reviews-2021, insider-today, job-market, Markets, Markets & Festivals, News, newsletter, Newsletters, Nexstar Media Wire News, People News, Personal Finance, personal-finance, Photovogue / Editorial / News, Politics / Politics News, Property / News, Reviews, reviews-rit-ads, salesforce, Security / Security News, shop, Shop Beauty, Tech, venture-capital
• September 23, 2026

Not being able to invest in OpenAI may have worked out perfectly for Salesforce. On an episode of the Sources Podcast published Tuesday, Marc Benioff told host Alex Heath that he originally wanted Salesforce to invest in OpenAI. Instead, the company backed its rival Anthropic, a decision the Salesforce CEO now thinks could be worth