In its quest to deliver “instant” intelligence to nearly a billion users, OpenAI has secured one of the largest infrastructure deals in history. The ChatGPT maker has inked a $10 billion+ agreement with Cerebras Systems, a Silicon Valley chipmaker known for its “dinner-plate-sized” wafer-scale engines.
The deal, which runs through 2028, will bring a staggering 750 megawatts of power online—roughly the output of a small nuclear reactor—dedicated exclusively to making OpenAI’s models faster, smarter, and more cost-efficient.
Why OpenAI is Moving Away from the “GPU Only” Era
For years, OpenAI’s growth was dictated by the availability of NVIDIA’s H100 and B200 GPUs. However, as the focus shifts from training models to inference (the process of the model “thinking” and responding), traditional GPU clusters have faced latency bottlenecks.
- The Speed Advantage: Cerebras’ Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE) integrates compute and memory onto a single giant chip, eliminating the “network hop” that slows down traditional server racks. Cerebras claims its systems can run reasoning models up to 100x faster than traditional setups.
- Cost Efficiency: By securing 750MW of capacity, OpenAI is betting that specialized silicon will slash the massive electricity bills associated with general-purpose GPUs.
- Diversification: This deal, alongside OpenAI’s custom chip project with Broadcom, marks a strategic “de-coupling” from NVIDIA’s market monopoly.
Key Deal Contours
The partnership is designed to scale in tranches, ensuring that as OpenAI’s user base grows, the hardware is ready to meet the demand.
| Feature | Details (2026-2028) |
| Total Contract Value | Over $10 Billion |
| Total Power Capacity | 750 Megawatts (MW) |
| Core Technology | Cerebras CS-3 Wafer-Scale Systems |
| Primary Use Case | Real-time Inference (ChatGPT, Coding Agents) |
| Deployment Timeline | Phased rollouts starting Q1 2026 |
Strategic Impact on the AI Market
This deal is more than just a hardware purchase; it is a catalyst for two major IPOs.
- The Cerebras IPO: After a postponed attempt in 2025, this $10 billion contract provides the stable revenue required for Cerebras to file for its Q2 2026 IPO, with a rumored valuation of $22 billion.
- The OpenAI Valuation: By solving its “compute deficit,” OpenAI is clearing the runway for its own potential public offering. Analysts suggest that the ability to deliver “human-speed” reasoning could push OpenAI’s valuation toward the $800 billion mark.
“Integrating Cerebras is all about making our AI respond much faster. When AI responds in real-time, users do more with it, stay longer, and run higher-value workloads.” — Sachin Katti, Infrastructure Lead at OpenAI.
Conclusion
The OpenAI-Cerebras deal marks the official beginning of the “Inference War.” In 2026, the winner of the AI race isn’t necessarily the company with the biggest model, but the one that can deliver that intelligence at the speed of natural conversation. By securing 750MW of the world’s fastest inference hardware, OpenAI has taken a massive step toward making AI a seamless, real-time extension of human thought.
