Thinking Machines Lab Partners with Google Cloud in a Multi-Billion-Dollar Deal
Former OpenAI executive Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines Lab, has signed a new multi-billion-dollar agreement to expand its use of Google Cloud’s AI infrastructure, including systems powered by Nvidia’s latest GPUs, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
This landmark deal, valued in the single-digit billions, allows Thinking Machines to access Google’s cutting-edge AI systems built on Nvidia’s latest GB300 chips. Furthermore, it includes essential infrastructure services necessary for model training and deployment.
Context of Google’s Strategy in AI Cloud Services
Google has actively pursued cloud partnerships with AI developers, aiming to integrate its cloud offerings with additional services, such as storage solutions, a Kubernetes engine, and its Spanner database product. Earlier this month, another key player in the AI landscape, Anthropic, secured a significant agreement with Google and Broadcom for multiple gigawatts of tensor processing unit (TPU) capacity—custom-designed chips that enhance machine learning workloads.
However, competition in this sector is intensifying. Just this week, Anthropic made headlines again by finalizing a new arrangement with Amazon to gain access to up to 5 gigawatts of capacity intended for the training and deployment of its AI model, Claude.
Implications of Thinking Machines Lab’s Agreement
Earlier this year, Thinking Machines Lab entered into a partnership with Nvidia, which included investment from the chip manufacturer. The current deal with Google represents the startup’s first collaboration with a cloud service provider. While the deal is not exclusive—allowing Thinking Machines to explore multiple cloud options—it indicates that Google is strategically positioning itself to secure relationships with fast-growing frontier labs.
Mira Murati, who transitioned from her role as OpenAI’s chief technologist to establish Thinking Machines in February 2025, guided the company through a remarkable $2 billion seed funding round shortly thereafter, achieving a valuation of $12 billion. Despite its secretive nature, Thinking Machines unveiled its inaugural product, Tinker, in October. This innovative tool automates the creation of customized frontier AI models.
Indications of Innovation and Computing Power
Wednesday’s agreement offers insight into the technological advancements being pursued by Thinking Machines. According to a Google press release, the deal supports the startup’s reinforcement learning workloads—a critical training methodology widely recognized for its role in powering breakthroughs at renowned labs like DeepMind and OpenAI. The scale and financial commitment represented by Google Cloud’s deal highlight the resource-intensive nature of this cutting-edge research.
Thinking Machines is one of the first customers to tap into Google Cloud’s GB300-powered systems, which reportedly deliver a twofold improvement in both training and serving speed compared to previous-generation GPUs. “Google Cloud got us running at record speed with the reliability we demand,” remarked Myle Ott, a founding researcher at Thinking Machines, emphasizing the technical robustness of the collaboration.
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