Summary

  • Google and OpenAI will reportedly collaborate on AI.
  • The deal allows Google to provide OpenAI with cloud solutions for additional computing capacity.
  • This deal with Google will help OpenAI rely less on Microsoft.

Google and OpenAI compete with each other in the artificial intelligence domain, with both companies offering some of the best on Android phones. However, it now looks like both companies are putting aside the competition and have struck a deal to collaborate in the field of AI.

The ChatGPT logo on a mobile phone against a stylized backdrop

According to sources close to Reuters, OpenAI sought help from Google to use its servers to run ChatGPT. Sources further revealed that the deal was finalized in May this year. None of the companies commented on their alleged partnership, but this will be significant for both. It’s a win for Google’s cloud infrastructure, as the OpenAI partnership boosts its reputation, whereas for OpenAI, the deal means less reliance on Microsoft.

What does Google bring to the table for OpenAI?

The report from Reuters claims that the deal enables Google to supply OpenAI with cloud solutions that will provide ‘additional computing capacity’ for training and running AI models that ChatGPT relies on. This was in the making for several months, but it couldn’t materialize because of OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft, which didn’t allow the former to run ChatGPT on data center infrastructure other than Microsoft Azure.

Person using ChatGPT on a laptop, displaying examples, capabilities, and limitations on the screen."

This lasted until January this year, so OpenAI had to explore other options. The report doesn’t clarify whether ChatGPT will run exclusively on Google’s cloud solution, but regardless of the extent, this allows Google to rely less on Microsoft. Whatever the case may be, development comes at a time when ChatGPT faces a massive global outage across the globe.

While service outages can happen for several reasons, more diversification in terms of partners can reduce the chances of failures. However, it isn’t clear whether OpenAI will fully switch to Google’s cloud solution or adopt a hybrid strategy, with Azure being the other compute source. Hopefully, we’ll get more clarity on the Google-OpenAI deal when both companies officially announce their partnership.

This is “behind-the-scenes” stuff, but it does impact users’ experience in the sense that the AI solution can become more reliable and have less downtime. That said, these under-the-hood changes won’t mean much if you don’t know how to use ChatGPT to increase your productivity.