I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Alphabet and Blackstone's Project Braid, a $5 billion AI cloud venture aiming to rent Google TPUs, faces early delays due to supply shortages, regulatory hurdles in Texas, and site-specific issues. Despite setbacks like scaled-down Wyoming plans and transformer shortages, the venture remains on track for 500 megawatts capacity next year, with 29 potential sites identified. Meanwhile, Wall Street maintains a Strong Buy consensus for Alphabet (GOOGL) with an average price target of $426.04.
Alphabet (GOOGL) and Blackstone's (BX) new AI cloud venture, known as Project Braid, is running into early delays, Bloomberg reported. The joint effort, backed by $5 billion from Blackstone, aims to rent Google's processors to customers. The venture originally aimed to bring 500 megawatts of data center capacity online by 2027.
First announced in May 2026, the startup functions as a "neocloud," a cloud provider that aims to challenge Nvidia (NVDA)-backed rivals like CoreWeave (CRWV) by renting out Google's TPUs and computing capacity to enterprise customers.
Setbacks Show Rising Strain on AI Buildouts
One of the first setbacks came when Google dropped a plan for Crusoe to build a major site in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The report said Google lost confidence in Crusoe's ability to deliver and took over the work itself, restarting the permit process.
Local officials have already told residents the site will be scaled down. Another planned site fell through as it lacked the right transformers. This was tied to a wider shortage of power gear that can take almost a year to get.
Plans in Texas also hit a wall after Governor Greg Abbott paused new data center approvals while the state reviews how developers pay for power. These issues reflect the growing strain on the physical buildout needed for AI growth, which includes supply shortages and political pushback.
Project Braid's leaders expect uneven progress and still see strong momentum. The project's CEO Benjamin Treynor Sloss said the venture has a wide set of site options and remains on track to deliver 500 megawatts next year.
Google and Blackstone are now looking for new locations, tapping partners, consultants, and other neocloud operators for leads. The venture has identified 29 potential sites so far.
Is GOOGL a Buy or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, GOOGL stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 24 Buys and four Holds assigned in the past three months. The average price target for Alphabet is $426.04, implying an upside of 25.91% from the current price.