Exclusive: Google deepens Thinking Machines Lab ties with new multibillion-dollar deal

2026-04-22 · Source: AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing & IT Infrastructure, Emerging Technologies & Innovation · Depth: Intermediate, quick

Summary

Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, has secured a multibillion-dollar agreement with Google Cloud to expand its AI infrastructure. This deal, valued in the single-digit billions, grants access to Google's latest AI systems, including those powered by Nvidia's new GB300 chips, alongside comprehensive infrastructure services for model training and deployment. The startup, which raised a $2 billion seed round at a $12 billion valuation in July 2025 and launched its product "Tinker" in October, will utilize Google Cloud to support its computationally intensive reinforcement learning workloads. Thinking Machines is among the first Google Cloud customers to access GB300-powered systems, which Google claims offer a 2X improvement in training and serving speed over previous-generation GPUs.

Key takeaway

For CTOs and AI architects evaluating cloud infrastructure for frontier AI development, this deal highlights the necessity of securing access to cutting-edge GPU capacity and integrated cloud services. Prioritize providers offering early access to next-generation hardware like Nvidia's GB300 chips to achieve significant speed improvements in model training and deployment, especially for reinforcement learning workloads.

Key insights

AI startups are securing massive cloud infrastructure deals to scale advanced model training and deployment.

Principles

• Reinforcement learning is computationally expensive.
• Early access to advanced chips boosts training speed.

In practice

• Utilize GB300-powered systems for 2X speed improvement.
• Combine AI compute with cloud services like storage and databases.

Topics

• Thinking Machines Lab
• Google Cloud AI
• NVIDIA GB300 Chips
• Reinforcement Learning
• AI Infrastructure

Best for: CTO, VP of Engineering/Data, AI Architect, Tech Journalist, Director of AI/ML, Investor

Related on AIssential

• Nvidia to sell 1 million chips to Amazon by end of 2027 in cloud deal — The AI infrastructure race drives massive GPU and chip stack acquisitions by cloud providers like AWS.
• Behind Blackstone's US$5bn Bet on a Google Cloud AI Company — A US\$5bn Blackstone-Google partnership creates a new compute-as-a-service business for AI workloads using Google Cloud TPUs.
• Who Controls AI's Future? The Battle for GPU Access | CoreWeave SVP — Specialized AI cloud providers differentiate through purpose-built infrastructure and deep customer engagement.
• Google’s Cloud Next AI Highlights — Google's multi-layered AI strategy integrates hardware, compute hosting, and agent layers for a full-stack advantage.
• Apple teams up with Google, Nvidia to expand private cloud capabilities — Apple's expanded Private Cloud Compute leverages partnerships to enhance AI capabilities while maintaining privacy.
• Google will pay Elon Musk a fortune every single month — Access to large-scale GPU infrastructure is a critical constraint driving multi-year, multi-billion dollar AI compute deals.

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch.