Oracle plans to offer Google’s TPU artificial-intelligence chips through its public cloud, with deployments due to begin in 2027. SiliconANGLE reports that this is the first time Google has supplied its chips to another large cloud provider. Oracle says it will add capacity over time, but has not given a deployment schedule or announced how much capacity customers will be able to use.
The TPU clusters will use Google’s ICI and optical circuit switching, or OCS, to communicate with one another. OCS uses small mirrors to direct light between servers, avoiding some conversions between light and electrical signals. Oracle says its own Acceleron networking technology will connect the clusters to the rest of its data centers.
What else is Oracle adding?
SiliconANGLE, citing CNBC, also reports that Oracle intends to offer chips from Cerebras and OpenAI. Cerebras makes wafer-scale processors, while OpenAI’s Jalapeño is designed for running AI models. OpenAI said in August that Jalapeño can run some open-source models 1.5 times faster than competing chips; that is the company’s claim, not an independent comparison. Oracle has not shared a rollout date for either processor.
Oracle and OpenAI also announced ways for customers to use Oracle applications through ChatGPT. One new service, AI Workspace, is designed to let the chatbot carry out tasks in Oracle business software and bring in outside applications when needed. Oracle’s example is handling a customer order threatened by a supplier delay, which could involve checking inventory, transportation and costs before updating the order.
Tools for building and securing apps
Oracle’s App Composer is intended to help people without software-development skills build and manage custom applications with AI assistants. Oracle says the tool scans those applications for security weaknesses and deploys them on managed cloud infrastructure, while company IT teams can set access, data and cost controls.
A related service, AI Security Mesh, uses OpenAI models tuned for cybersecurity to find application vulnerabilities, rank them by severity and suggest fixes. Oracle is also offering a free-to-start Oracle AI SMB Bundle for small businesses. It includes AI Workspace, App Composer, NetApp QuickStart accounting software, ChatGPT Business and Codex, plus $12,000 in cloud credits per year, according to Oracle. The announcement does not specify the bundle’s eligibility rules or how long the credits last.
Why it matters
Businesses already using Oracle applications may be able to ask ChatGPT to carry out tasks across those systems, though Oracle has not detailed availability or access rules. Small businesses are being offered a bundle with $12,000 in annual cloud credits, but its eligibility rules and the duration of those credits remain unclear.
