OpenAI signs US$10 billion deal with Cerebras for AI computing

[SAN FRANCISCO] OpenAI signed a multiyear deal to use hardware from Cerebras Systems for 750 megawatts’ worth of computing power, an alliance that will support the company’s rapid build-out of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

OpenAI will integrate Cerebras into its computing network to provide faster response times, according to a joint statement on Wednesday (Jan 14). The infrastructure will be built in multiple stages “through 2028”, the companies said. Though terms were not disclosed, sources familiar with the matter put the size of the deal at more than US$10 billion.

“This partnership will make ChatGPT not just the most capable but also the fastest AI platform in the world,” said Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder and president. This speed will help unlock “the next generation of use cases and onboard the next billion users to AI”, he said.

Cerebras, a semiconductor startup, has pioneered a unique approach to processing information using huge chips. It’s seeking widespread adoption of its technology in a bid to challenge market leader Nvidia. That would allow it to tap into the tens of billions of US dollars being poured into new infrastructure for AI computing.

The agreement is the latest massive data centre deal for OpenAI as the AI startup expands its computing capacity. It’s all part of an unprecedented bet by the technology industry that runaway demand for power-hungry AI tools will continue unabated.

In September, Nvidia announced it would invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI to build AI infrastructure and new data centres with a capacity of at least 10 gigawatts of power.

In October, Advanced Micro Devices said that it would deploy six gigawatts’ worth of graphics processing units over multiple years for OpenAI. A gigawatt is about the capacity of a conventional nuclear power plant.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT and other AI tools, is also developing its own chip with Broadcom.

Cerebras and OpenAI have been exploring the idea of collaborating since 2017, according to the statement. Recent work by Cerebras in support of OpenAI’s GPT-OSS-120B model showed it running 15 times faster than “conventional hardware”, the companies said.

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Cerebras founder and chief executive officer Andrew Feldman said that AI’s inference stage, the process of getting models to respond to queries, is crucial to the advancement of the technology and that’s where his products shine.

His company is also in talks to raise money ahead of a potential initial public offering.

Cerebras has discussed a new funding round of roughly US$1 billion, a source familiar with the matter said earlier this week. The round would value the startup at US$22 billion before the investment, said the source.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported on the US$10 billion OpenAI-Cerebras deal. BLOOMBERG