Google Restricts Meta’s AI Access Amid Compute Crunch
Google has reportedly imposed limits on Meta's access to its Gemini artificial intelligence models after the Facebook parent sought more computing capacity than the tech giant could supply, highlighting the growing strain on global AI infrastructure despite billions of dollars in investment.
According to a report by the Financial Times, Google informed Meta around March that it could not provide the full computing capacity the social media company had requested for its Gemini AI models, forcing Meta to scale back usage and delaying some of its internal artificial intelligence projects.
The report, which cited people familiar with the matter, said Meta has been the hardest hit among Google's customers because of its exceptionally large demand for AI computing resources.
The restrictions have reportedly prompted Meta to encourage employees to use AI tokens—the units that measure AI model usage—more efficiently as the company works around the capacity constraints.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the report, while neither Google nor Meta immediately responded to requests for comment outside normal business hours.
The development underscores the mounting pressure facing technology companies as demand for generative AI continues to outpace the industry's available computing infrastructure.
Although leading firms have committed hundreds of billions of dollars to expanding data centres and purchasing advanced AI chips, supply shortages continue to limit the availability of computing power needed to train and operate increasingly sophisticated AI models.
The Financial Times reported that other Google Cloud customers have also experienced capacity constraints, although the impact has been less severe than on Meta.
The reported shortages mirror comments made earlier this year by Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, who acknowledged that limited computing capacity had constrained the growth of the company's cloud business.
Google Cloud generated US$20 billion in revenue during the first quarter ended March, but Pichai said stronger performance was held back by infrastructure limitations, with demand for cloud services significantly exceeding available capacity.
The backlog of cloud orders nearly doubled during the quarter, illustrating the scale of demand driven by businesses racing to deploy artificial intelligence applications.
For Meta, the reported restrictions come as the company accelerates investment in AI to strengthen products across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and its expanding portfolio of AI-powered services.
The incident also highlights an emerging reality in the global AI race: access to computing power is becoming as critical as access to talent and algorithms.
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