🔍 Read the full analysis: Is OpenAI Looking Beyond Nvidia? A Report Points To Google TPUs on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
The Information and Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to buy Google’s tensor processing units, citing one person familiar with the matter each. Neither company has confirmed a purchase, and its size, price and timing are unknown. OpenAI is already pursuing several non-Nvidia chip arrangements, while Google is beginning to sell TPUs beyond its own data centers.
The Information and Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to buy Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs), but the companies have not confirmed a purchase. Both reports cited one person familiar with the matter; OpenAI declined to comment, Google did not comment, and no price, chip quantity or delivery schedule has been made public. If completed, the deal would add a major potential supplier to OpenAI’s already broadening chip strategy—and make Google, a competitor in AI, a supplier as well.
The Information published its report on October 27, and Bloomberg reported the plan the following day. The accounts describe an intention to buy Google AI computing chips, but the available reporting does not establish that OpenAI has signed a contract or placed an order. Reuters, relaying The Information’s report, said financial terms and other details could not be learned. Bloomberg’s reported account also said final terms were not known.
There is evidence OpenAI is preparing to work with the technology. A TPU compiler engineering job posted on the company’s careers page on October 20 seeks someone to optimize its frontier models on TPUs. That points to technical work, not a confirmed purchase. OpenAI had also tested Google TPUs through Google Cloud in 2025. At the time, the company told Reuters it was in early testing and had no active plans to deploy them at scale.
OpenAI’s chip strategy already extends beyond Nvidia. The source material lists announced arrangements involving AMD, Broadcom, Cerebras and Amazon, alongside a 2025 letter of intent with Nvidia. Those arrangements differ in their structure and should not be read as proof that every chip is already installed or serving workloads. A Google purchase would add another potential source of computing capacity; its scale and operational role remain unknown.
Infographic 01 · Reported, documented, confirmed
OpenAI and Google’s TPUs: what we actually know
The purchase itself is a report. The pieces around it, Google selling its chips and OpenAI hiring for them, are on the record.
- OpenAI plans to buy Google’s AI chipsReported
The Information, 27 October; Bloomberg, 28 October. Each cites one person familiar with the matter. OpenAI declined to comment; Google did not comment.
- OpenAI is hiring to optimize its frontier models on TPUsPrimary document
“Software Engineer, TPU Compilers”, posted on OpenAI’s careers page on 20 October 2026. A sign of serious work, not a purchase order.
- Google sells TPU systems into customers’ own data centersConfirmed
Announced on 29 April, first deliveries in the second quarter, “a meaningful revenue ramp in 2027” (Alphabet’s CFO, 28 October).
- Oracle will offer Google TPUs in its cloudConfirmed
The first cloud outside Google to do so. Available in calendar year 2027, ramping over several years.
- Price, number of chips, TPU generation, delivery dates, locationNot known
Nothing published. Not even whether the chips would sit in Google’s data centers, OpenAI’s or a partner’s.
How OpenAI and Google got here
- Jun 2025OpenAI rents Google TPUs, calls it early testingReuters: no active plans to deploy them at scale
- 29 Apr 2026Google: TPUs for customers’ own data centersAlphabet Q1 earnings call
- 20 Oct 2026OpenAI posts a TPU compiler jobOpenAI careers page
- 21 Oct 2026OpenAI models coming to Google CloudOpenAI announcement, as reported by Reuters
- 27 Oct 2026The Information reports the purchase plan; Oracle announces TPUsReported · Oracle press release
- 28 Oct 2026Bloomberg reports it too; Alphabet’s call does not mention OpenAIReported · Alphabet Q3 call
“Reported” means the outlets’ own reporting, which I could read only in part (paywalls). “Confirmed” means the company’s own statement or filing.
Sources: The Information via Reuters, 27 Oct 2026, Bloomberg, 28 Oct 2026, as cited by The Asia Business Daily, OpenAI careers, posted 20 Oct 2026, Reuters, 30 Jun 2025, Alphabet Q1 call, 29 Apr 2026, Q3 call, 28 Oct 2026, Oracle, 27 Oct 2026.
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More Options in AI Chip Supply
Training and running advanced AI models requires large amounts of specialized computing capacity. A deal with Google could give OpenAI another source of chips at a time when AI companies are making large infrastructure commitments. It could also help OpenAI avoid relying on a single supplier, although the report does not establish how much work would move to TPUs or whether they would replace any Nvidia systems.
The potential relationship matters to Google, too. The company designed TPUs for its own data centers and is now making them available to outside customers. Selling to OpenAI would place Google’s hardware in the supply chain of a prominent AI competitor, while potentially expanding demand for chips beyond Google’s internal use. For buyers, the prospect of multiple credible suppliers may affect negotiations over price, capacity and delivery, but no such savings or improvements have been announced.
For ChatGPT users, there is no reported immediate change. The chip purchase is unconfirmed, and the source material gives no deployment date or indication that it would change ChatGPT’s speed, price or features. Any effect on the service would depend on whether a deal is completed and how OpenAI uses the hardware.
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Google Opens TPU Sales
Google’s move to sell TPUs outside its own data centers is confirmed separately from the OpenAI report. On April 29, 2026, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Google would begin delivering TPU systems to selected customers for use in their own data centers. Google said on its October 28 earnings call that nearly 100 customers use TPUs and named Anthropic and Apple among them. It also announced partnerships with Oracle and Crux AI.
Oracle said it plans to offer Google TPUs through its cloud starting in 2027. Anthropic’s IPO filing, according to the source material, lists hundreds of billions of dollars in TPU commitments. These developments show that Google is building an external market for its chips; they do not confirm an OpenAI deal.
OpenAI and Google have had business ties alongside their competition. OpenAI said on October 21 that its frontier models would be available through Google Cloud. The 2025 TPU testing reported by Reuters provides earlier evidence of technical evaluation, but OpenAI then said it had no active plan for large-scale deployment. The new reports would mark a possible change in scale, not a publicly confirmed reversal of that position.
“OpenAI plans to buy Google’s AI chips.”
— The Information, citing a person familiar with the matter
Deal Terms Remain Unknown
No purchase has been confirmed publicly by either company. The reports each rely on one person familiar with the matter, and the supplied material does not include a signed agreement or order. It remains unclear how many chips OpenAI might seek, which TPU generation is involved, what they would cost, or when they could be delivered.
The location and purpose of any deployment are also unsettled. The chips might run in Google’s data centers, in OpenAI’s own facilities or through a cloud partner such as Oracle; the reports do not say. The October job posting shows TPU optimization work, but hiring for that work does not prove that OpenAI has committed to buying hardware. It is also unknown whether a potential deal would supplement or replace any existing capacity.
Watch for Contract Details
The next concrete sign would be a statement from OpenAI or Google, or reporting that establishes whether a contract has been signed and discloses its scope. Any confirmed announcement would need to clarify the chip quantity or capacity, delivery timetable, deployment location and commercial terms. Until then, the reported plan should be treated as unconfirmed.
Google’s announced Oracle offering is expected to begin in 2027, while the source material gives no schedule for OpenAI. For now, the confirmed developments are Google’s expansion of TPU sales, OpenAI’s documented TPU engineering work and its existing efforts to arrange computing capacity from several suppliers. Whether those steps lead to a large-scale Google chip deployment—and whether users notice any effect—remains open.
Key Questions
Has OpenAI confirmed it will buy Google TPUs?
No. The Information and Bloomberg reported a plan, each citing one person familiar with the matter. OpenAI declined to comment, and Google did not comment in the supplied account.
What are Google TPUs?
TPUs, or tensor processing units, are AI chips designed by Google. The company has historically used them in its own data centers and is now making systems available to outside customers.
Does OpenAI already use Google TPUs?
Reuters reported in 2025 that OpenAI had started renting some TPUs through Google Cloud. OpenAI described that work as early testing and said it had no active plans then to deploy them at scale. That earlier account does not confirm a current purchase.
Would a Google deal mean OpenAI is leaving Nvidia?
There is no evidence in the reports that OpenAI is leaving Nvidia. The source material describes multiple announced chip arrangements, and the possible Google purchase would add another supplier. The size and use of any Google capacity are not known.
Could the report change ChatGPT for users?
No immediate change has been announced. The purchase remains unconfirmed, and there is no disclosed timetable or information linking it to ChatGPT’s price, speed or features.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
