Google has managed to eke away some of OpenAI's AI computing requirements from NVIDIA, suggests a new report from The Information. The report, which quotes a single source, shares that OpenAI has turned to Google to rely on the latter's tensor processing units (TPUs) to power its AI products. OpenAI has primarily been believed to rely on Microsoft, Oracle and others to use NVIDIA's GPUs to train and run its AI software. According to the report, OpenAI is interested in lowering its operating costs by using Google's TPUs, and Google has not rented out its latest TPUs to its AI rival.
OpenAI Interested In Using Google's TPUs To Reduce AI Costs, Says Report
Google launched its seventh-generation TPUs in April, which it claimed was its first AI chip inference. The TPUs made quite a splash in 2024 when Apple revealed that it had used the firm's TPUs to train its Apple Intelligence platform. However, training is just one part of the AI equation, as AI chips rely on inferencing to generate outputs in response to user queries.
According to The Information, OpenAI is using Google's TPU to power ChatGPT and other AI products. The shift has been recent, and the publication quotes a single anonymous source in its report. The reason OpenAI is using Google's chips instead of NVIDIA's is to reduce costs, as the firm has faced heavy usage lately, as it learned after introducing a new image generation platform earlier this year.
The Information also adds that Google is purportedly seeking to offer its TPU chips to cloud computing infrastructure providers. NVIDIA's high prices and short supply of its GPUs have opened up a market for alternative chips that can offer users lower costs. If Google is able to convince the infrastructure providers to adopt its chips as well, then it could aim at NVIDIA's market share and eke it away as supply continues to be constrained.
Google also relies on its own chips to train its AI models. The firm is one of the most diverse AI companies in the industry as it operates across both the hardware and software stacks. Along with its TPUs, Google also offers its Gemini AI model and has been busy integrating Gemini across its platforms such as Gmail and Google Search.
OpenAI's reliance on Microsoft and Oracle means that it has exclusively relied on NVIDIA's GPUs. Oracle has positioned itself to hold one of the largest inventories of NVIDIA GPUs in the industry. If OpenAI relies on TPUs from Google, then Google will have managed to break NVIDIA's near-monopoly like status on the high-end AI industry. Earlier this year, OpenAI made headlines after it partnered with Oracle as part of President Trump's Startgate project in a decision that appeared to have snubbed Microsoft.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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