Google Cloud just landed two of the hottest AI coding startups - unicorns Lovable and Windsurf - as primary customers, marking another win in its aggressive push against AWS and Microsoft Azure. The deals underscore how AI startups are becoming the secret weapon behind Google's fastest-growing business line, which hit a $50 billion annual run rate and secured $58 billion in future commitments.
Google just scored two major wins that signal how the cloud wars are shifting toward AI dominance. The tech giant announced Thursday it's landed fast-rising AI coding unicorns Lovable and Windsurf as primary cloud customers, the latest sign that AI startups are becoming Google's not-so-secret weapon against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
The timing couldn't be better for Google Cloud, which has been playing catch-up for years. The division just hit an annual run rate of $50 billion - a massive jump from $33.1 billion in 2023 - and cloud chief Thomas Kurian revealed this week that the unit has lined up $58 billion in new revenue commitments over the next two years. That's the kind of growth that makes investors sit up and take notice.
But here's what's really driving those numbers: AI startups are flocking to Google in unprecedented numbers. The company now works with nine out of the 10 leading AI labs, including Safe Superintelligence and even competitor OpenAI. More telling: 60% of the world's generative AI startups are now running on Google's infrastructure, with a 20% spike in new AI startup customers just in the past year.
The strategy is paying off in ways that go beyond pure revenue. Both Lovable and Windsurf - which was recently acquired by Cognition - are using Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro models to power their "vibe coding" platforms. That creates a virtuous cycle where Google's AI models get better training data while customers get deeper integration with the cloud platform.
Windsurf is taking this even further, integrating Gemini models with Cognition's AI agent Devin. It's exactly the kind of tight coupling that makes customers sticky and competitors nervous.
