A source revealed that Meta Platforms has signed a contract worth more than 10 billion USD with Google, for 6 years, to use Google Cloud's cloud computing infrastructure. The agreement includes servers, storage, networks and many other services. This is Google's second major recent partnership after an agreement with OpenAI.
The deal comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build more large-scale AI data centers. Last month, Meta raised its annual spending forecast by 2 billion USD, to 66 - 72 billion USD.
Meta is also looking for an outside partner to share the financial burden, including a plan to transfer about $2 billion in data center assets. This move reflects Meta's growing need to expand infrastructure to serve the development of artificial intelligence.
In the context of the technology industry witnessing many AI-related deals, Reuters previously reported that OpenAI plans to add Google Cloud service to meet the growing demand for calculations, marking a surprise cooperation between the two major rivals in the AI field.
In parallel, the cloud computing segment of Alphabet - parent company Google - recorded a revenue increase of nearly 32% in the second quarter, exceeding the forecast and strengthening Google Cloud's position in the global market.
The more than $10 billion deal with Meta is expected to help Google continue to expand market share, while Meta has more infrastructure needed to pursue its long-term AI ambitions.
