OpenAI Signs $10B Compute Deal With Cerebras to Boost AI Power
OpenAI will purchase up to 750 megawatts of computing power over three years from chipmaker Cerebras, the two companies said on Wednesday. As a result, the ChatGPT maker aims to stay ahead in the AI race and meet rising demand.
The deal is worth more than $10 billion over the life of the contract, according to a source familiar with the matter. In addition, OpenAI plans to use Cerebras systems to power its chatbot, expanding its list of multi-billion-dollar agreements.
How the Cerebras partnership will work
Cerebras Chief Executive Andrew Feldman said the two companies began talks last August after Cerebras demonstrated that OpenAI’s open-source models could run more efficiently on its chips than on traditional GPUs. After months of negotiations, the companies reached an agreement for Cerebras to sell cloud services powered by its chips to OpenAI.
Notably, the deal will focus on inference and reasoning models, which typically take time to “think” before generating responses. Under the arrangement, Cerebras will build or lease data centres filled with its chips. Meanwhile, OpenAI will pay to use Cerebras cloud services for inference across its AI products.
The capacity will come online in multiple tranches through 2028. Therefore, OpenAI can scale computing power gradually while expanding its AI services.
Market impact, IPO plans, and spending goals
“Integrating Cerebras into our mix of compute solutions is all about making our AI respond much faster,” OpenAI said in a post on its website. At the same time, the agreement highlights rising demand for inference computing as companies race to build reasoning tools.
For Cerebras, the tie-up supports its latest push toward going public. Additionally, it helps the company diversify revenue away from UAE-based tech firm G42, which has been both an investor and a major customer.
Founded in 2015, Cerebras is known for its wafer-scale engines that accelerate training and inference for large AI models. As competition grows, the company continues to challenge Nvidia and other chipmakers. Sam Altman, CEO at OpenAI, is an early investor in Cerebras.
Reuters reported last month that Cerebras was preparing to file for an initial public offering, targeting a listing in the second quarter of this year. Previously, the company filed for an IPO in 2024 but later postponed and withdrew in October.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is laying the groundwork for its own IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion, Reuters had reported. Looking ahead, Altman has said OpenAI plans to spend $1.4 trillion to develop 30 gigawatts of computing resources, enough to power roughly 25 million U.S. homes.
However, some investors and experts have warned that heavy spending and soaring valuations could signal an AI bubble similar to the dotcom era.
