Google Cloud gets OpenAI's GPT-6 models, but only a few customers can use them

Just two years ago, using OpenAI's models in a major cloud almost always meant going through Microsoft Azure. On October 21, OpenAI and Google Cloud announced that the GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna models are coming to Model Garden, Google's model catalog, which already lists more than 200.

The announcement deserves a close read, though. The models are in private preview, open to a selection of enterprise customers on request. OpenAI says general availability is coming "in the coming weeks," with no specific date.

What changes for a business?

Mainly billing and contracts. The models are purchased through Google Cloud's marketplace, and the spending can count toward consumption commitments already signed with Google, on a single invoice. For an IT department that has negotiated a volume deal with Google, that is a concrete argument.

According to Techzine, Astra targets heavy-duty tasks (programming, computer control, scientific research), Sol is meant to come close to Astra at a lower cost, and Luna is the fast, inexpensive model. Developers can already connect OpenAI's Codex programming tools to the platform; integration with other Google tools will come later. None of the sources consulted mentions pricing for these models on Google Cloud.

On data, Google says prompts and responses stay within the customer's perimeter and are not used to train the models. Two options that cautious companies expect, zero data retention and confidential computing, will arrive later, according to Techzine. None of the sources consulted specifies hosting regions or availability in Europe.

A rapprochement between two rivals

Google competes directly with OpenAI through Gemini, whose latest version, Gemini 4 Argon, was released this month. Google now presents itself as the only major cloud offering all three leading families of closed models: OpenAI, Anthropic's Claude and Gemini. According to The Next Web, Amazon has hosted OpenAI's models since April, after the end of Microsoft's exclusivity. Microsoft remains OpenAI's main cloud partner.

For European companies, the question to watch is simple: when general availability arrives, will the models be able to run in European regions, and with what contractual guarantees?