This week on StrictlyVC Download, TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos is joined by Francis deSouza, the renowned entrepreneur, operator and, since January of this year, COO of Google Cloud. They discuss his goals for Google Cloud and how the company maintains its competitive position by focusing on startups while giants like AWS and Oracle snap up major deals with leading AI companies — namely, OpenAI and Anthropic. The conversation also covers the tangled web of relationships in the AI ecosystem, where companies like Google Cloud provide infrastructure services while their parent companies compete fiercely in generative AI, even as those same parents hold investment stakes in their supposed rivals. They also discuss how Google Cloud approaches the GPU shortage as part of its strategy to attract customers — and keep them coming back for more.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction and Francis deSouza's Background
05:00 - Google Cloud's Three-Pillar Strategy
08:55 - AI Startup Strategy and Revenue Commitments
10:00 - Competition with Oracle and AWS
12:30 - Partnership Strategy with Anthropic and Meta
14:00 - Balancing Competition and Neutral Infrastructure Provider Role
16:30 - TPUs vs GPUs: Technical Differentiation and Strategy
20:00 - Customer Lock-in Concerns and Technology Advantages
21:30 - Capacity Constraints and GPU Shortage
22:30 - Google Cloud Profitability and $80B CapEx Investment
25:00 - Health Data, Scientific Integrity, and Google's Role
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