OpenAI and Google have announced a partnership that will make OpenAI’s advanced artificial intelligence models and Codex programming agent available on Google Cloud in the coming weeks, deepening the ties between the two competitors and highlighting the emergence of major cloud providers as key distributors of top-of-the-line AI models.
OpenAI and Google have announced a partnership that will make OpenAI’s advanced artificial intelligence models and Codex programming agent available on Google Cloud in the coming weeks, deepening the ties between the two competitors and highlighting the emergence of major cloud providers as key distributors of top-of-the-line AI models.
The deal will allow customers to purchase the latest OpenAI models — such as GPT-6 Astra — through Google Cloud's Model Garden catalog and Google Cloud Marketplace, while allowing enterprises to use their existing budgets and cloud service commitments for such purchases as OpenAI aggressively ramps up sales to enterprise customers, Reuters reports .
Additionally, the deal will give companies in regulated industries access to OpenAI models through Google Cloud infrastructure, data management tools, and access controls, allowing them to create so-called “agent-based” AI workflows.
After its exclusive distribution deal with Microsoft expired in April, OpenAI has been gradually expanding its distribution network. The company has already partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and now Google Cloud, leading hyperscalers competing for market share in the AI space.
The deal adds new color to the complex relationship between OpenAI and Google, which both compete in search and core AI products and are drawn closer together by the economic realities of developing and deploying large models. In particular, Google previously entered into a cloud agreement with OpenAI to provide additional computing power.
For Google Cloud, bringing in OpenAI models reinforces its strategy of offering customers a wider range of third-party models rather than relying solely on its own. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian previously said in an interview with Reuters that their platform is open and welcomes any models that are popular with developers.
The partnership reflects a broader trend in the industry, where cloud giants are becoming the primary commercial channels for leading AI labs, typically taking a cut of the profits from sales through their own platforms.
By the way, another competitor of OpenAI, the startup Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Google, according to its IPO application, received 47% of its revenue for 2025 precisely through the Amazon and Google cloud platforms.
