OpenAI plans to buy Google's AI chip TPU, The Information reported on Oct. 27 local time.
The size of the purchase and detailed terms were not disclosed.
Google's TPU appears to be gaining ground as a rival to Nvidia's graphics processing units, which dominate the AI computing market. If Google secures OpenAI, one of Nvidia's most important customers, as a customer as well, Google's weight in the AI chip market is expected to grow further.
Google developed the TPU more than 10 years ago and has said it is more efficient than Nvidia's GPUs.
OpenAI is also hiring engineers to lead efforts to optimize cutting-edge frontier models for TPUs. The Information said job postings show the work is still at an early stage.
Google has also secured Oracle as a TPU customer. Google announced on Oct. 27 that Oracle will be the first major cloud company outside Google to offer TPUs to customers. Sources said Oracle will buy TPUs directly and deploy them in its cloud. Which customers use TPUs on Oracle Cloud has not yet been confirmed.
OpenAI is also a major Oracle cloud customer.
Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)
delight@d-today.co.kr