Google Cloud is Alphabet's hyperscale cloud, renting NVIDIA GPUs alongside Google's own TPU accelerators and Axion Arm CPUs; designing its own silicon reduces its reliance on merchant GPUs. The Gemini models, built by Google DeepMind in London, are trained on the same TPU fleet, and for Google the model business is the more central identity, with cloud as the supporting infrastructure play. Its Project Suncatcher research programme is designing solar-powered satellites carrying radiation-tested TPUs, linked optically, with two prototype satellites targeted for 2027.
Ecosystem functionIt pushes AI boundaries with research-driven models and breakthroughs, setting industry trends, and fuels compute demand for experimental AI development.
Business modelAI research