- Google is reportedly mulling an investment of about $100 million in cloud-computing company Fluidstack.
- Google is also speaking with other data-center partners about increasing its financial commitments, hoping for additional TPU demand, as per the report.
- There are also talks within Google’s cloud-computing division where some managers are reportedly reviving conversations about restructuring the company’s TPU team into a stand-alone unit.
Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG) Google is reportedly trying out new financial plays as it seeks to increase market adoption of its artificial intelligence chips, in a bid to compete with the world’s largest semiconductor company Nvidia Corp. (NVDA).
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, Google has amped up financial support to many of its data-center partners that provide computing power to customers, in a move to expand its market potential.
Google is also reportedly mulling an investment of about $100 million in cloud-computing company Fluidstack, as part of a deal that values the startup at around $7.5 billion.
As per the report, Google is also speaking with other data-center partners about increasing its financial commitments, hoping for additional tensor processing units (TPU) demand.
Shares of GOOG were up 4% at the time of writing.
Financial Play
With its investment in Fluidstack, Google intends to help amplify the startup’s growth potential, as well as to encourage other computing providers to use its AI chips, according to the people cited in the WSJ report.
Among the other data center partners, Google has reportedly backstopped financing for projects involving Hut 8 Corp. (HUT), Cipher Mining Inc. (CIFR), and TeraWulf Inc. (WULF), all previously crypto-mining companies that have pivoted into data centers.
Standalone TPU Talks
There are also talks within Google’s cloud-computing division where some managers are reportedly reviving conversations about restructuring the company’s TPU team into a stand-alone unit, a move that could broaden investment options and attract outside capital, as per people familiar with the discussions.
However, such a separation would face obstacles, including the cloud division’s heavy reliance on Nvidia chips, as per the report. A Google spokesperson reportedly told WSJ there are no plans to restructure the TPU team.
The report also said that Google could have bottlenecks in increasing its TPU shipments, as per people familiar with semiconductor supply chains, including companies prioritizing Nvidia over Google. The tech giant could also face pressure from the global memory chips shortage, as per the report.
While Google’s chips are seeing wider adoption for AI workloads, including among startups such as Anthropic, the company is running into multiple challenges in its growth journey, as per the people cited in WSJ’s report.
These reportedly include holdups from manufacturing partners as well as a lack of interest from cloud-computing companies that buy Nvidia processors.
How Did Stocktwits Users React?
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around GOOG shares remained in the ‘bearish’ territory over the past 24 hours amid ‘low’ message volumes.
Meanwhile, retail sentiment around NVDA shares also remained in the ‘bearish’ territory over the past 24 hours amid ‘normal’ message volumes.
Shares of GOOG have gained over 69% in the past year, while shares of NVDA have risen more than 35%.
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