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By Zaheer Kachwala and Krystal Hu<\/p>\n
Jan 14 (Reuters) – OpenAI will purchase up to 750 megawatts of computing power over three years from chipmaker Cerebras as the ChatGPT maker looks to pull ahead in the AI \u200brace and meet the growing demand, the two companies said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
This deal is worth more than $10 billion \u200cover the life of the contract, according to a source familiar with the matter. The ChatGPT maker plans to use the systems built by Cerebras \u200cto power its popular chatbot in what is the latest in a string of multi-billion-dollar deals struck by OpenAI.<\/p>\n
Cerebras Chief Executive Andrew Feldman said the two companies began talks last August after Cerebras demonstrated that OpenAI\u2019s open-source models could run more efficiently on its chips than on traditional GPUs. After months of negotiations, the companies reached an agreement under which Cerebras will sell cloud services \u2060powered by its chips to OpenAI, focusing \u200con inference and reasoning models, which typically take time to \u201cthink\u201d before generating responses.<\/p>\n
As part of the deal, Cerebras will build or lease data centers filled with its chips, while OpenAI will pay to \u200duse Cerebras\u2019 cloud services to run inference for its AI products. The capacity will come online in multiple tranches through 2028.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntegrating Cerebras into our mix of compute solutions is all about making our AI respond much faster,\u201d OpenAI said in a post on its website.<\/p>\n
The deal underscores \u200bthe industry\u2019s strong appetite for computing power to run inference \u2014 the process by which models respond to queries \u2014 as \u200ccompanies race to build reasoning models and applications to drive adoption.<\/p>\n
The tie-up will be key to Cerebras’ latest efforts in going public, as it will help Cerebras diversify its revenue away from UAE-based tech firm G42, which has been both an investor and one of its largest customers.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2015, Cerebras is known for its wafer-scale engines, chips designed to accelerate training and inference for large AI models, competing with offerings from Nvidia and other AI chipmakers. Sam Altman, CEO at OpenAI, is \u2060an early investor in Cerebras.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported last month that Cerebras was preparing \u200bto file for an initial public offering, targeting a listing in the \u200bsecond quarter of this year. This marks the company’s second attempt at the public market. It first filed paperwork for IPO in 2024, before postponing and ultimately withdrawing in October.<\/p>\n
OpenAI is laying the groundwork \u200dfor its own IPO that \u2060could value it at up to $1 trillion, Reuters had also reported.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n