OpenAI turns to Google Cloud for more server capacity for its AI models. A deal that is remarkable for several reasons.
According to sources from Reuters, OpenAI has signed a cloud contract with Google. Google Cloud is opening up its servers for OpenAI’s LLMs. Although the parties involved do not want to publicly confirm the deal, Reuters claims that an agreement was already reached last month after months of negotiations.
Necessity Knows No Law
The fact that OpenAI is even seeking rapprochement with Google is remarkable in itself. In the AI race, OpenAI and Google are each other’s biggest rivals. But sometimes necessity overrides friendships and enmities.
OpenAI has no data centers of its own and therefore must rely on a cloud partner. The company is in a constant search for cloud capacity to train its ever-expanding models and keep them active around the clock. Microsoft won’t be pleased with the flirtation between OpenAI and Google.
Polygamy
In this love triangle, Microsoft feels like the betrayed partner. Microsoft has long been the exclusive cloud partner for OpenAI and wants to further expand that collaboration. It reportedly even tried to actively block a rapprochement between OpenAI and Google, according to Reuters.
It’s no secret that Microsoft is gradually running out of space in its data centers to continue supporting OpenAI’s growth as an exclusive partner. This opened the doors for an open relationship, although Microsoft would have preferred to pair OpenAI with loyal companion Oracle. However, OpenAI has set its sights on Google, which is a thorn in Microsoft’s side given its troubled relationship with Google.
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For Google Cloud, on the other hand, burying the hatchet won’t be a problem. With OpenAI, it’s landing a big fish. Google wants to distinguish itself in the AI market by, among other things, opening up its homemade chips to external parties. An offer that has already won over other major players like Apple and Anthropic. OpenAI and Google are also partners in the prestigious Stargate project of the US government.