GCP – Launching a landmark partnership to support AI startups with Y Combinator

More than half of the world’s generative AI startups are building on Google Cloud — using a wide choice of leading models, AI-optimized infrastructure, GPUs and TPUs, Vertex AI, and more to build the next generation of exciting AI applications, models, and tooling. 

These customers range from very early-stage businesses to the largest of AI “unicorns,” but they all share common needs: reliable access to cost-effective hardware, and efficient routes to market, and a desire to scale quickly — all without getting locked into a particular vendor’s model or platform. 

Today, we’re making Google Cloud’s AI platform even more open to early-stage startups through a new partnership with Y Combinator (YC) that will bring dedicated access to GPUs, TPUs, cloud credits, and support and mentorship to its Summer 2024 cohort of AI-first startups.

This means that YC startups can use Google Cloud’s AI and developer tools to prototype, build, and ship products faster and more cost-effectively. This wide-ranging partnership includes:

Dedicated access to a cluster of NVIDIA H100 GPUs and Google’s TPUs: YC startups will have reliable access to hardware for training AI models on Google Cloud, tapping into the same high-performance hardware used by leading AI companies like Anthropic, Cohere, Character AI, Essential AI, and more. Startups will be able to request ad-hoc access through Google Cloud’s dynamic workload scheduler or reserve capacity through dedicated account representatives.

Financial support: Each startup will receive access to the Google for Startup Cloud Program AI Scale Tier, offering up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years. Additionally, startups will benefit from $12,000 in Google Cloud Enhanced Support credits for one year, and one year of free Google Workspace Business Plus.

Training and support: YC startups can also receive Google Cloud Skills Boost credits, so their teams can access online AI courses and hands-on labs. We’ll also begin hosting monthly office hours to connect founders with Google’s internal AI experts to foster knowledge exchange and discussions about the evolving AI landscape and best practices for building AI-first products.

Mentorship and access to Google AI expertise: YC startups will also benefit from Google’s expertise in training our own models, deploying AI at massive scale, and bringing AI products to market, including access to Google Cloud Startup Customer Engineers, Startup Success Managers, and our large, global community of startup customers.

Enabling startups to build a brighter future

This partnership between Y Combinator and Google Cloud marks a significant step forward in empowering AI-first startups. By providing access to cutting-edge infrastructure, comprehensive financial support, and expert guidance, this collaboration will help fuel innovation and accelerate the development of transformative AI solutions. As these startups push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI, we can expect to see groundbreaking advancements that shape the future of industries and society as a whole.

Some top Y Combinator companies already building on Google Cloud include:

AssemblyAI: AssemblyAI provides multilingual Speech AI models, including speech-to-text and speech understanding, with industry-leading accuracy and low latency, that let developers build new Speech AI products applications such as customer sentiment intelligence, voice assistants, transcription services, and content analysis.

Klarity.ai: Klarity automates business workflows that require document processing. Klarity uses GenAI to understand documents like contracts, orders, and invoices to the same degree as a human and can automate reconciliations, calculations and outlier identification. 

You can learn more about the Google for Startups Cloud Program here.