By Micah Jonah
January 15, 2026
OpenAI has entered a major computing partnership with US chipmaker Cerebras, securing up to 750 megawatts of processing capacity over the next three years as demand for faster, more powerful artificial intelligence systems surges worldwide.
Sources familiar with the agreement say the deal is valued at more than 10 billion dollars over its lifetime, marking one of the largest infrastructure commitments yet by the maker of ChatGPT as competition intensifies across the AI industry.
Under the arrangement, Cerebras will provide cloud services powered by its specialized chips, while OpenAI will rely on the systems mainly for inference and reasoning tasks, the stage where AI models process questions and generate answers. The companies say this will significantly improve response speed and reliability for OpenAI’s products.
Cerebras is known for its wafer scale engine technology, which differs from traditional graphics processing units commonly supplied by Nvidia. Company executives say internal tests showed OpenAI’s open source models could run more efficiently on Cerebras hardware, prompting negotiations that began last August and concluded after months of technical evaluation.
As part of the deal, Cerebras will build or lease data centers filled with its chips, with computing capacity expected to come online in phases through 2028. OpenAI will pay to access the cloud services rather than owning the physical infrastructure directly.
The partnership also strengthens Cerebras’ business ahead of a planned return to the stock market, as it reduces reliance on a small number of large customers and adds one of the world’s most influential AI companies to its client list. Reports indicate Cerebras is preparing for an initial public offering later this year after a previous attempt was postponed.
For OpenAI, the move fits into a broader push to secure enormous amounts of power and computing. Chief executive Sam Altman has previously said the company aims to develop up to 30 gigawatts of computing capacity in the long term, a scale comparable to the electricity needs of tens of millions of homes.
While investments and valuations in artificial intelligence continue to climb, some investors and analysts have warned that spending across the sector is rising at a pace that could mirror past technology bubbles. Still, leading firms appear determined to lock in infrastructure early as they compete to build faster, more capable and more widely used AI systems.
With this deal, OpenAI signals it is willing to spend big and diversify beyond traditional chip suppliers to stay ahead in a global race that is rapidly reshaping technology, business and everyday life.
