🔍 Read the full analysis: Reported OpenAI Interest In Google TPUs Raises Questions About Nvidia on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
The Information and Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to buy Google’s AI chips, citing one person familiar with the matter each. Neither company has confirmed a purchase, and its price, size and timing are unknown. The report comes as Google starts selling TPUs beyond its own data centers and OpenAI lines up additional chip suppliers.
The Information and Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to buy Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs), but neither company has confirmed a deal. The reports, published October 27 and 28, each cite one person familiar with the matter; the possible purchase would add a major AI chip supplier as OpenAI expands beyond its longstanding reliance on Nvidia.
The Information first reported the plan on October 27. Bloomberg reported it the next day, also citing one person familiar with the matter. Reuters, relaying The Information’s report, said financial terms and other details were not available. OpenAI declined to comment, while Google did not comment or did not immediately respond to inquiries, according to the source material. No chip count, price, delivery schedule or TPU model has been disclosed.
There is evidence that OpenAI is working on TPU technology, but it does not establish a purchase. Its careers page listed a TPU Compilers engineering role, posted October 20, seeking someone to optimize its frontier models on TPUs. An earlier accelerator-team job posting also mentioned experience with TPUs and other chip designs. Hiring for technical work is consistent with evaluating or using the hardware; it is not a purchase order.
OpenAI has previously tested Google TPUs. Reuters reported in June 2025 that OpenAI had begun renting them through Google Cloud. OpenAI then told Reuters it was in early testing with some TPUs and had no active plans to deploy them at scale. On October 21, 2026, OpenAI said its frontier models would be available through Google Cloud. Those developments show business and technical ties, but they do not confirm the newly reported plan to buy chips.
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 Chip Suppliers, More Leverage
If the reported purchase proceeds, it would add Google to an expanding list of companies supplying or expected to supply computing hardware to OpenAI. The source material lists announced arrangements involving AMD, Broadcom, Cerebras and Amazon, alongside Nvidia. It cites a 2025 letter of intent with Nvidia for 10 gigawatts, an AMD arrangement for 6 gigawatts, a Broadcom plan for 10 gigawatts of custom chips, a Cerebras arrangement for 750 megawatts, and about 2 gigawatts of Amazon Trainium. These are differently structured announcements and commitments; they should not be read as proof that all capacity is installed or available now.
A credible alternative to Nvidia could give large AI developers more options when negotiating chip prices, access and delivery schedules. That is a potential bargaining effect, not evidence that Nvidia has lost its leading role or that OpenAI has moved its workloads. Nvidia remains a central supplier, while the scale and practical importance of any Google arrangement are unknown.
For customers and ChatGPT users, no immediate change has been reported. The source material says many of OpenAI’s announced chip arrangements point to capacity arriving in 2027 or later. It does not establish that the reported TPU plan will lower costs, speed up ChatGPT, or change where its models run. Any effect on service prices, performance or availability remains uncertain.
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Google Opens TPU Sales Beyond Cloud
The report comes as Google makes its TPU systems available outside its own data centers. On its first-quarter earnings call on April 29, 2026, chief executive Sundar Pichai said the company would begin delivering TPUs in a hardware configuration to selected customers’ own data centers. Google had previously offered access through Google Cloud, rather than selling customers their own systems.
Google said on its October 28 earnings call that nearly 100 customers use TPUs, naming Anthropic and Apple, and announced partnerships with Oracle and Crux AI, according to the source material. Oracle said it would offer Google TPUs in its cloud from 2027. These announcements establish that Google is widening access to its chips; they do not confirm that OpenAI is among the customers receiving hardware.
The companies are competitors in areas including AI assistants, but they also have commercial ties. OpenAI’s October 21 statement about making its frontier models available through Google Cloud came shortly before the reports about a possible TPU purchase. That sequence makes cooperation plausible, but the reported chip deal remains unconfirmed.
“As TPU demand grows from AI labs, capital markets firms, and high performance computing applications, we will begin to deliver TPUs to a select group of customers in their own data centers in a hardware configuration.”
— Sundar Pichai, Google chief executive, on the company’s April 29, 2026, earnings call
Deal Terms and Deployment Remain Unknown
No purchase has been confirmed publicly. The reports each rely on one person familiar with the matter, and the source material does not provide independent confirmation from OpenAI or Google. OpenAI declined to comment; Google did not comment or did not immediately respond, depending on the inquiry described.
It remains unknown how many chips OpenAI might buy, which TPU generation is involved, how much a deal would cost, or when hardware could be delivered. The reports also do not say whether any chips would operate in Google’s data centers, in OpenAI’s own facilities, or through a cloud partner such as Oracle. Nor is it clear whether the plan is a purchase commitment, an arrangement still under negotiation, or one part of a broader computing strategy.
The careers listing and prior testing indicate technical interest, but they cannot settle those questions. The size of any resulting workload, and whether Google TPUs would run production services or remain in evaluation, have not been disclosed.
Watch for Terms and Delivery Dates
The next meaningful confirmation would be a statement from OpenAI or Google, or a filing, contract announcement or other disclosure that sets out the arrangement. Readers should look for specifics on chip volume, price, hardware location and delivery timing, rather than treating job listings or earlier cloud tests as proof of a completed purchase.
Google’s planned 2027 TPU offering through Oracle is a separate announced development and may provide a route for customers to access the hardware. Whether OpenAI uses that service or receives chips through another arrangement has not been reported. Until the companies provide more detail, the proposed deal should be treated as a reported plan, not a confirmed change to OpenAI’s supply or to the services its users receive.
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. Neither company has publicly confirmed a purchase in the source material.
What are Google TPUs?
TPUs, or tensor processing units, are AI chips designed by Google. Google has offered access through its cloud and said it would begin delivering systems to selected customers’ own data centers.
Does the report mean OpenAI is leaving Nvidia?
No such move has been confirmed. The source material describes Nvidia as a major OpenAI supplier and lists other announced chip arrangements. A possible Google purchase would indicate another potential source of computing capacity, not an end to Nvidia use.
Could Google TPUs make ChatGPT cheaper or faster?
That is unknown. No public details establish how many chips might be involved, what workloads they would run, or whether any cost or performance effects would reach users.
When could OpenAI receive the chips?
The reports did not give a delivery date. Google has said Oracle will offer TPUs through its cloud from 2027, but the source material does not establish that this is how or when OpenAI would access them.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
