Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares rose on Tuesday following news that OpenAI has agreed to use Google Cloud’s infrastructure, marking an unexpected collaboration between two of the biggest players in artificial intelligence.
According to a Reuters exclusive, citing three sources, the agreement was finalised in May.
It will see Google provide additional computing power to support OpenAI’s growing needs for training and operating its large language models.
The deal signals a shift in OpenAI’s infrastructure strategy, expanding beyond its long-standing reliance on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.
The partnership is a win for Google Cloud, which has increasingly opened its in-house tensor processing units (TPUs) to outside clients.
These chips, historically reserved for internal use, are now being adopted by major firms, including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC) and AI-focused startups such as Anthropic.
For Alphabet, the deal adds a high-profile customer to its cloud business and comes as the company looks to drive returns on heavy AI investments.
Alphabet shares rose 1.5% to $180.31, adding $38 billion to the value of the search and social media giant.