Blackstone Takes Majority Position in Google’s New TPU Cloud
May 19, 2026 - 7:37 am
Image by: Blackstone
Blackstone and Google have formed a joint venture to build a US-based AI compute-as-a-service business on Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs). Blackstone will contribute $5bn in initial equity and take majority ownership, with the total deal value reaching roughly $25bn, including leverage. The first 500 MW of data-centre capacity is targeted for 2027.
Key Takeaways:
- Joint Venture Structure: The venture focuses on TPUs, positioning it as a 'TPU cloud' rather than a general-purpose hyperscaler unit. It directly competes with CoreWeave, NVIDIA-aligned and recently publicly traded.
- Financial Details: Blackstone's $5bn equity contribution is part of a $25bn total project value, implying $20bn in debt financing for underlying data center and equipment assets.
- Google’s Strategy: The deal follows Google's sale of TPU capacity to external customers, including the $40bn-plus Anthropic deal and Meta's TPU agreement. It allows Google to distribute TPU infrastructure while addressing its internal compute challenges.
- Big Tech Spending: With projected AI infrastructure spending reaching $700bn in 2026, this JV is a strategic move by Google to leverage Blackstone's financing capabilities.