How ChatGPT maker may be looking at Google to solve its ‘melting severs’ problem

OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is reportedly integrating Google’s cloud service to meet its growing computing needs, diversifying beyond Microsoft’s Azure Cloud. This deal is a strategic win for Google’s cloud unit, providing crucial computing capacity for OpenAI’s AI models. Despite ChatGPT’s threat to Google’s search dominance, both companies are willing to collaborate to address massive computing demands.

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI reportedly plans to integrate Google’s cloud service to fulfill its increasing computing demands. The company’s need for growing AI computing capacity was evident from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s tweet in March in which he famously noted the company’s “GPUs are melting” due to an explosion in Ghibli-style image creation on its popular chatbot. This collaboration essentially brings together two prominent competitors in the AI sector. The agreement, which had been under discussion for several months, was finalised in May, news agency Reuters quoted three sources as saying. It is to be noted that OpenAI has the backing of Microsoft, one of the competitors of Google in the cloud computing space.

What this deal means for OpenAI and Google

For OpenAI, the move represents its latest effort to diversify its computing resources beyond its primary backer, Microsoft, and its highly anticipated Stargate data center project. Microsoft is mostly the first cloud provider to offer OpenAI’s AI models through Azure Cloud.For Google’s cloud unit, this deal marks a significant win, as it will provide additional computing capacity to OpenAI’s existing infrastructure, crucial for both training and running its AI models. The sources also told the news agency that this is a strategic gain for Google. This collaboration is particularly striking given that OpenAI’s ChatGPT has emerged as one of the most substantial threats to Google’s longstanding dominance in online search in years. Google executives have recently acknowledged that the race for AI leadership may not ultimately be a “winner-take-all” scenario.As per Scotiabank analysts, there are growth opportunities for Google’s Cloud unit but said that the tech giant needs to be cautious about the competitive pressure posed by ChatGPT on Google’s search business.“The deal… underscores the fact that the two are willing to overlook heavy competition between them to meet the massive computing demands. Ultimately, we view this as a big win for Google’s cloud unit, but… there are continued worries that ChatGPT is becoming an incrementally larger threat to Google’s search dominance,” they said.