Meta signs multi-billion-dollar deal to rent Google AI chips – report

Meta Platforms has signed a multi-billion dollar deal to rent artificial intelligence chips from Google to develop new AI models, The Information reported on Thursday, February 26, citing a person involved in the talks.

The report of the multi-year deal comes as companies pour billions into chips and AI infrastructure to meet demand for artificial intelligence.

Meta and Google declined Reuters’ request for comment.

Earlier this week, Advanced Micro Devices said it would sell up to $60 billion in AI chips to Meta. The Facebook owner earlier this month also signed a deal with Nvidia to buy its current and future AI chips.

Reuters reported in December that Google was pushing to make its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) a viable alternative to Nvidia’s market-leading GPUs. TPU sales have become a crucial growth engine of Google’s cloud revenue as it seeks to prove to investors that its AI investments are generating returns.

The Information reported Thursday that Meta is also in talks with Google to buy the TPUs for its data centers as early as next year, though the status of those discussions could not be determined.

Google has also signed an agreement with an unidentified large investment firm to fund a joint venture that would lease TPUs to other customers, the report added. – Rappler.com