OpenAI expands distribution of models and Codex tools through Google Cloud
Key Facts
OpenAI has reached an agreement to make its artificial intelligence models and Codex coding tools available through Google Cloud, Axios reported on October 21, 2026. The agreement adds Google Cloud to the channels through which businesses can access OpenAI products, following earlier agreements covering Amazon and Oracle clouds. The expansion includes software-writing tools alongside the models underpinning AI applications, according to Axios. The move comes as Google expands access to other companies' models for its cloud customers. The previous day, it announced the availability of Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 within the Antigravity development environment.
The new agreement followed changes to OpenAI's contractual relationship with Microsoft in April that allowed the company's products to be distributed through other clouds. OpenAI said in its announcement of the revised partnership that "Microsoft remains OpenAI's primary cloud partner." Microsoft's license to intellectual property relating to models and products continues through 2032, according to the published terms of the amended agreement between the companies. But the license became non-exclusive, a change that preceded the current expansion of distribution channels through rival cloud providers. Priority for product launches on Azure remains in place under the agreement's terms, alongside Microsoft's continued central role in the partnership.
Amazon and OpenAI announced an expanded agreement in April, according to Axios, preceding the latest announcement of availability through Google Cloud. That arrangement included making OpenAI models available through Amazon's cloud, as the company expanded distribution of its products beyond its core partnership with Microsoft. In an update published on August 7, 2026, OpenAI confirmed that Oracle customers could purchase access to its models through Oracle Marketplace. Access to those models includes their use through the application programming interface, according to the update on the company's website. Products available for purchase through the same marketplace also include Codex tools and ChatGPT Work.
Google and OpenAI have a previous cloud relationship covered by Reuters, centered on providing the computing capacity needed to train and run models. The current agreement adds access to models and coding tools through Google Cloud to the earlier computing infrastructure cooperation. Following news of that earlier cooperation on June 10, 2025, shares in Google parent Alphabet rose in Tuesday afternoon trading. The gain at the time was 2.1%, according to Reuters, coinciding with the disclosure of the computing relationship between the companies. In that same historical session, Microsoft shares fell 0.6% as investors reacted to news of the earlier cooperation between Google and OpenAI.
Google offers its own and its partners' models through Model Garden, a platform that brings together model discovery, customization and deployment in one place. The company describes the platform as offering a broad range of models, including products from Google and its partners. In an announcement published on October 8, 2026, Google said nearly 80% of all its cloud customers used its AI products. It added that nearly 90% of companies on the Fortune 100 list used Gemini Enterprise. The figures, according to Google's announcement, place the adoption of AI products across its cloud customer base alongside their use by major companies on the list.
In its agent products, Google allows the choice of agent to be separated from the choice of model that performs the task, according to an explanation the company published about Gemini. It said in that explanation: "Gemini is the agent, while the model underneath is your choice." When the Gemini agent launched, Reuters reported that it selected the most suitable model for each task from the options available to it. At the time, it ran on Google's Gemini models and Anthropic's Claude models, according to the news agency, with other models to be added later. The announcement making Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 available in Antigravity concerned Google Cloud customers' use of the two models within the development environment.
General availability of OpenAI's models and tools through Google Cloud is planned in the coming weeks, Axios reported on October 21, 2026. The planned move includes Codex alongside the AI models covered by the agreement between the companies. The launch phase follows the availability of the company's products for purchase through Oracle, confirmed in the August update, and the expanded agreement with Amazon. In parallel, the expansion of the Gemini agent's options is proceeding, with Reuters reporting at its launch that it would add other models later. General availability through Google remains the next announced stage of the current agreement, according to the timeline reported by Axios.