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On October 21, 2026, Sundar Pichai said that Google is shifting some computing capacity from its cloud business to frontier AI research and development in order to support frontier AI R&D, sacrificing short-term cloud revenue for this purpose. On the same day, a report cited Pichai as saying that computing capacity for 2027 is essentially fully booked, and that it would be very difficult for customers applying for 2027 capacity now; he mentioned that Google had briefly rented external computing capacity last year to serve some customers. Subsequent reports likewise mentioned that it is extremely difficult to meet new demand for 2027 computing capacity, and said that in a podcast interview Pichai discussed Gemini 4 Argon, agent commercialization, the Apple partnership and space data centers, while acknowledging that supply chain bottlenecks and macroeconomic shocks could lead to overbuilding. At present, this claim remains at the level of Pichai's statements, with no further developments of fact.
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Reports and discussion timeline
Browse reports and discussion by time. Their evidence levels remain distinct.
Oct 22
East Money
Google CEO Pichai says new computing power leasing demand in 2027 will be extremely difficult to meet, and the industry is entering a high-prosperity period worth hundreds of billions
In a podcast interview, Google CEO Pichai said that even if customers now want computing power for 2027, it would be extremely difficult for Google to meet the demand, and that Google briefly leased external computing power last year to serve some customers. He also discussed agent commercialization, the Apple partnership and space data centers around the new model Gemini 4 Argon, and acknowledged that supply chain bottlenecks and macroeconomic shocks could lead to overbuilding. The article cites data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology saying the computing power leasing market is expected to exceed 260 billion yuan in 2026, while CITIC Securities, Shanxi Securities and Kailuan Securities gave assessments respectively on rising volume and prices, supply-demand mismatch, and the shift of business models toward Token revenue sharing.
East Money
Google CEO Warns of Compute Shortage: Annual Compute Rental Market Expected to Exceed 260 Billion Yuan, Earnings of Multiple Stocks Poised to Double
Google CEO Pichai said customers are seeking compute for 2027, and it is "extremely difficult" for Google to meet demand. In the first quarter of 2026, the domestic compute rental market reached 68 billion yuan, up 62% year on year, and is expected to exceed 260 billion yuan for the full year; the one-year rental price of H100 rose from $1.70/hour in October 2025 to $2.35/hour in March 2026. Institutions forecast that the earnings of 56 compute concept stocks are expected to double this year.
Oct 21
Rohan Paul
Sundar Pichai says compute capacity for 2027 is basically already booked out
Rohan Paul, citing Sundar Pichai, said that compute capacity for 2027 is basically already gone. Pichai said that if customers come asking for 2027 compute capacity now, it will be very difficult, which is one of the reasons Google rented some short-term compute capacity last year to help customers. The full video was posted on Alex Kantrowitz's YouTube channel.
Rohan Paul
Pichai: Google Cloud Sacrifices Short-Term Revenue for Frontier AI
Sundar Pichai said that the Google Cloud business "is giving up short-term revenue at any given moment" because the company is making compute trade-offs to support the development of frontier AI. The quote comes from a video on Alex Kantrowitz's YouTube channel.