OpenAI Partners with Cerebras

Cerebras Systems Inc. builds purpose-built AI systems to accelerate long outputs from AI models. Its unique speed comes from putting massive compute, memory, and bandwidth together on a single giant chip and eliminating the bottlenecks that slow inference on conventional hardware.Integrating Cerebras into our mix of compute solutions is all about making our AI respond much faster. When you ask a hard question, generate code, create an image, or run an AI agent, there is a loop happening behind the scenes: you send a request, the model thinks, and it sends something back. When AI responds in real time, users do more with it, stay longer, and run higher-value workloads.

We will integrate this low-latency capacity into our inference stack in phases, expanding across workloads.

“OpenAI’s compute strategy is to build a resilient portfolio that matches the right systems to the right workloads. Cerebras adds a dedicated low-latency inference solution to our platform. That means faster responses, more natural interactions, and a stronger foundation to scale real-time AI to many more people,” said Sachin Katti, OpenAI.

“We are delighted to partner with OpenAI, bringing the world’s leading AI models to the world’s fastest AI processor. Just as broadband transformed the internet, real-time inference will transform AI, enabling entirely new ways to build and interact with AI models,” said Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO, Cerebras.

The capacity will come online in multiple tranches through 2028.

Comments

Cerebras is part of a small group of alternative players - alongside Groq and SambaNova - that design, build, and develop accelerators and full systems specifically dedicated to the AI inference phase.

Recent events highlight growing strategic interest in this space: Nvidia reportedly secured Groq’s technology in a deal valued at $20 billion, while Intel appears to be in active discussions to acquire SambaNova Systems.

Cerebras recently raised a $1 billion Series G round at an $8 billion valuation and is still planning an IPO in 2026.

OpenAI has agreed to buy as much as 750MW of computing capacity from Cerebras over a three-year period, a deal valued at more than $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

OpenAI has been actively involved in this competitive race among leading AI firms. What has emerged is a kind of virtuous cycle - driven by AI companies themselves, chip and accelerator vendors, neo-cloud providers, hyperscalers, and investors - collectively sustaining an ecosystem that now sits above all of us. Unsurprisingly, this dynamic has led some to wonder whether a bubble may be forming.