Google and Meta strike $10 billion cloud computing deal

Meta Platforms has signed a six-year cloud computing agreement with Alphabet’s Google worth more than $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, marking one of the largest partnerships yet in the escalating race to secure computing power for artificial intelligence.

Under the deal, Meta will rely on Google Cloud’s servers, storage, networking, and related services to support its growing AI ambitions, the source said. The agreement, first reported by The Information, comes just weeks after Google struck a similar arrangement with OpenAI, underscoring how cloud infrastructure has become a critical battleground in the AI boom.

Neither Meta nor Google immediately responded to requests for comment.

The deal highlights the enormous costs facing companies building large-scale AI systems. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in July that the company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years to construct massive AI data centers. Last month, Meta raised the lower end of its annual capital expenditure forecast by $2 billion, setting a range of $66 billion to $72 billion.

Meta is also exploring ways to ease the financial burden. Earlier this month, it disclosed plans to offload about $2 billion in data center assets to outside partners, a move designed to help fund its AI infrastructure expansion.

The surge in demand for high-end computing has fueled rapid growth at Google Cloud, which reported a 32% jump in second-quarter revenue in July, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

With Meta, OpenAI, and other AI leaders now turning to Google’s cloud division, the company is strengthening its position as one of the few providers capable of delivering the enormous scale required for cutting-edge AI development.