Google and Blackstone have announced a joint venture valued at $5 billion to establish a new cloud company focused on Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), aiming to address the escalating demand for AI data center capacity. The partnership will initially bring 500 megawatts (MW) of capacity online by 2027, leveraging Google's AI hardware and software alongside Blackstone's infrastructure expertise.
New Company to Offer TPUs as a Service
The newly formed US-based entity will provide TPUs as a compute-as-a-service option, offering customers an alternative way to access these custom chips beyond Google Cloud. TPUs are specialized processors designed for training and inference of advanced AI models, powering workloads for leading AI labs, financial firms, and high-performance computing applications. They also underpin Google's Gemini and other AI-driven products.
Blackstone's Investment Commitment
Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager with over $1.3 trillion in assets under management and a leading global provider of data centers, will make an initial $5 billion equity investment. This funding aims to bring 500 MW of capacity online by 2027, with plans for significant scaling over time. The joint venture is intended to provide customers with more choice and flexibility for running AI workloads on TPUs. Benjamin Treynor Sloss, a Google executive with over two decades of experience building and operating Google's global infrastructure, has been appointed CEO of the new company.
Google's Role in the Partnership
Google will supply hardware, including TPUs, as well as software and services to the new company to rapidly accelerate its ability to meet growing demand for accelerated computing. This leverages Google's technical and domain expertise. Google stated, "This partnership combines Google's advanced AI compute technology with Blackstone's expertise in digital infrastructure to help meet surging global demand for advanced AI workloads."
Executive Perspectives
Jon Gray, President and COO of Blackstone, commented: "We see a generational opportunity to invest capital at scale building AI infrastructure. This new company has enormous potential as it helps to meet the unprecedented demand for compute. We are incredibly proud to partner with Google – bringing together their world-class TPUs and AI capabilities with Blackstone's exceptional strength in energy and digital infrastructure."
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, added: "This joint venture with Blackstone helps meet growing demand for TPUs, which are optimized specifically for efficiency and performance in the AI era. Together, we’re accelerating AI transformation and providing more options for organizations to access accelerated compute capability."
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