Google parent Alphabet and chip major Nvidia have reportedly joined venture capitalists to invest in an artificial intelligence (AI) startup Safe Superintelligence (SSI). This AI startup was co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever , who was part of the group that ousted CEO Sam Altman in 2023. A report by the news agency Reuters citing a source familiar with the matter claims that the investment from the tech giants has been confirmed and may be a part of a funding round that valued SSI at nearly $32 billion, led by venture capital firm Greenoaks.
Founded in June 2024, SSI focuses on developing advanced AI systems with an emphasis on safety. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and Tel Aviv, Israel. The report claims that Alphabet’s cloud division has announced a deal to provide SSI with access to its proprietary AI chips, highlighting its dual role as both investor and infrastructure partner. Meanwhile, Nvidia's involvement shows its ongoing interest in supporting AI research initiatives. However, the report didn’t mention the exact terms of Alphabet's and Nvidia's investment in SSI.
Google is making its AI chip accessible to external research partners
In a recent interview with Reuters, Darren Mowry, a managing director in charge of Google's partnerships with startups, said that the company initially kept TPUs for internal use. However, the new agreement to provide SSI with a notable supply of these chips for frontier AI research shows Google’s ongoing strategy to broaden sales to external customers.
"With these foundational model builders, the gravity is increasing dramatically over to us," Mowry noted.
AI developers have generally preferred Nvidia GPUs, which account for more than 80% of the AI chips market. However, SSI is primarily using Google's TPUs for its AI research and development, the report claims.
Google offers both Nvidia GPUs and its TPUs through its cloud service, with its chips designed for specific AI tasks and efficiency in building large-scale models. Meanwhile, Google and Nvidia are competing with Amazon, which is developing its processors, Trainium and Inferentia, and has positioned Anthropic as a key customer for its supercomputer built with these chips.
On the other hand, Anthropic continues to use TPUs and invest in Google's chips, reflecting a broader industry trend where major cloud providers invest in AI startups that significantly use their infrastructure.
Founded in June 2024, SSI focuses on developing advanced AI systems with an emphasis on safety. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and Tel Aviv, Israel. The report claims that Alphabet’s cloud division has announced a deal to provide SSI with access to its proprietary AI chips, highlighting its dual role as both investor and infrastructure partner. Meanwhile, Nvidia's involvement shows its ongoing interest in supporting AI research initiatives. However, the report didn’t mention the exact terms of Alphabet's and Nvidia's investment in SSI.
Google is making its AI chip accessible to external research partners
In a recent interview with Reuters, Darren Mowry, a managing director in charge of Google's partnerships with startups, said that the company initially kept TPUs for internal use. However, the new agreement to provide SSI with a notable supply of these chips for frontier AI research shows Google’s ongoing strategy to broaden sales to external customers.
"With these foundational model builders, the gravity is increasing dramatically over to us," Mowry noted.
AI developers have generally preferred Nvidia GPUs, which account for more than 80% of the AI chips market. However, SSI is primarily using Google's TPUs for its AI research and development, the report claims.
Google offers both Nvidia GPUs and its TPUs through its cloud service, with its chips designed for specific AI tasks and efficiency in building large-scale models. Meanwhile, Google and Nvidia are competing with Amazon, which is developing its processors, Trainium and Inferentia, and has positioned Anthropic as a key customer for its supercomputer built with these chips.
On the other hand, Anthropic continues to use TPUs and invest in Google's chips, reflecting a broader industry trend where major cloud providers invest in AI startups that significantly use their infrastructure.
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