Google Cloud announced on Thursday that it has added AI coding startups Lovable and Windsurf as new customers, with both companies selecting Google as their primary cloud provider.
The announcement was made at Google’s first AI Builders Forum, an event in Mountain View, California, designed to foster innovation and partnerships with AI startups.
New “vibe coding” startups choose Google Cloud
Lovable and Windsurf are both emerging players in the “vibe coding” space, developing tools that allow developers to build applications using natural language descriptions instead of traditional code. Both startups will run their operations entirely on Google Cloud infrastructure, leveraging the platform’s servers, storage, and computational resources, including Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro model.
While their current spending is modest compared to larger AI labs, Google views these partnerships as strategic investments, anticipating that the startups will scale their operations and cloud usage over time.
AI drives significant growth for Google’s cloud division
The new partnerships are part of a broader expansion for Google’s cloud division as it competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Key financial and market highlights for Google Cloud include:
- Reached an annual revenue run rate of $50 billion.
- Secured $58 billion in new revenue commitments for the next two years.
- Generated $43.2 billion in revenue in 2024, up from $33.1 billion in 2023.
- Partners with nine of the ten leading AI labs and 60% of global generative AI startups.
This growth is fueled by the resource-intensive nature of AI development, which requires massive amounts of processing power and data storage. Cloud providers like Google are benefiting directly as AI companies turn to their services to manage these demanding workloads. The global cloud market is projected to surpass $400 billion in spending by 2025, according to Synergy Research.
Google’s programs to attract and support AI startups
Google has been successful in attracting AI startups through various support programs designed to offset the high initial costs of infrastructure. Many of the startups at the AI Builders Forum, including Lovable and Windsurf, have participated in these initiatives.
- The Google for Startups Cloud Program provides early-stage companies with $350,000 in cloud credits, allowing them to experiment with AI models without significant upfront investment.
- A dedicated Nvidia GPU cluster is allocated to startups in the Y Combinator accelerator program, offering them access to high-performance hardware for intensive model training.
At the forum, Google announced that over 40 new AI startups are building their applications on Google Cloud, including other notable companies like Sequoia Capital-backed Factory AI and Andreessen Horowitz-supported Krea AI.
