Snowflake strikes $200M deal with OpenAI to integrate AI models directly into data platform

Snowflake bypasses Microsoft to strike multiyear deal with OpenAI - SiliconANGLE

Snowflake bypasses Microsoft to strike multiyear deal with OpenAI Snowflake Inc. today said it has struck a $200 million, multiyear partnership with OpenAI Group PBC to bring enterprise-grade generative artificial intelligence models directly into its data platform, deepening a relationship that until now had largely flowed through Microsoft Corp.'s Azure ecosystem. Under the agreement, OpenAI's models will be natively available inside Snowflake Cortex AI managed service and Snowflake Intelligence, giving Snowflake's 12,600 customers the ability to build and deploy AI applications and agents directly on governed enterprise data across all three major public clouds. The deal positions OpenAI as one of the primary model providers on Snowflake's platform, alongside Anthropic PBC, Meta Platforms Inc. and Mistral AI SAS. Snowflake Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Ramaswamy said the partnership clears the way for Snowflake customers to move beyond experimentation to production-ready AI. "Customers can now harness all their enterprise knowledge in Snowflake together with the world-class intelligence of OpenAI models, enabling them to build AI agents that are powerful, responsible and trustworthy," he said in a prepared statement. The companies said joint customers including Canva Pty Ltd. and Whoop Inc. plan to use OpenAI models within Snowflake to deploy context-aware AI applications and agents across their businesses. OpenAI models such as GPT-5.2 will be accessible within Snowflake Intelligence, an enterprise agent that allows employees to query and act on structured and unstructured data using natural language. Executives framed the deal as a shift from Snowflake's earlier, Microsoft-enabled access to OpenAI toward a direct, first-party relationship. "The partnership, or the ability to host OpenAI models, has been mostly in a partnership with Microsoft," Christian Kleinerman, Snowflake's executive vice president of product, said during a media and analyst roundtable ahead of Snowflake's Build London event this week. "This is directly with OpenAI." Kleinerman said the goal is to make advanced models available while preserving the security, governance and compliance controls enterprises expect from Snowflake. "All innovation at Snowflake is centered and rooted on the challenges customers have," he said, pointing to issues such as data silos, infrastructure complexity and regulatory requirements. As part of the collaboration, Snowflake and OpenAI will co-develop new features using OpenAI's application programming interfaces and agent frameworks, with an emphasis on building interoperable AI agents that can reason over governed data and act across enterprise systems. Snowflake said agents will run directly on customer data inside its AI Data Cloud, rather than requiring data to be moved to external services. The companies also highlighted Snowflake's enterprise-readiness features, such as its 99.99% uptime service-level agreement, business continuity capabilities and governance controls provided through the Snowflake Horizon Catalog. Those safeguards are intended to address concerns among regulated industries about reliability and responsible AI use. The partnership also extends to internal use. Snowflake said OpenAI uses Snowflake as a data platform for experiment tracking and analytics, while Snowflake uses ChatGPT Enterprise internally to support employee productivity and decision-making.

Snowflake Inks $200M Collaboration Alliance To Bring OpenAI Models To Cortex AI Services

OpenAI models will now be one of the primary model capabilities in the Snowflake Data Cloud platform, making it easier to use those models combined with an organization's proprietary data to develop context-aware Ai applications and agents. Data and AI cloud giant Snowflake and AI model developer OpenAI have established a strategic alliance through which they will jointly deliver advanced AI model capabilities to enterprise customers. Under the multi-year collaboration deal, which the companies valued at $200 million, OpenAI models will be natively available to Snowflake's 12,600 global customers within the Snowflake Cortex AI service across all three major cloud platforms. Through the partnership, announced Monday, OpenAI is now one of the primary model capabilities in the Snowflake platform. That, according to the companies, will allow businesses and organizations to leverage OpenAI models in Snowflake to deploy context-aware AI applications and agents that leverage their proprietary data. [Related: Snowflake CEO Confirms Observe Acquisition To Boost 'Enterprisewide Observability'] OpenAI models such as GPT-5.2 will also be available within Snowflake Intelligence, the data cloud company's own natural language-based agentic AI platform that's built into the company's data cloud. The partnership also includes co-innovation and joint go-to-market initiatives through which Snowflake and OpenAI will develop and deploy customized AI solutions that deliver tangible ROI for joint enterprise customers. The alliance, the companies said, will accelerate the adoption of agentic AI by global enterprises through their improved ability to deploy AI applications and agents at scale that deliver consistent, trusted outcomes. "By bringing OpenAI models to enterprise data, Snowflake enables organizations to build and deploy AI on top of their most valuable asset using the secure, governed platform they already trust," said Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy, in. a statement. "Customers can now harness all their enterprise knowledge in Snowflake together with the world-class intelligence of OpenAI models, enabling them to build AI agents that are powerful, responsible, and trustworthy. Together, we're setting a new standard for AI innovation, helping businesses transform with confidence, while maintaining strong security and compliance standards," Ramaswamy said. Snowflake struck a similar deal with AI research and development company Anthropic -- also valued at $200 million -- in December. Through that alliance Anthropic's Claude AI models are also available on the Snowflake platform. The Snowflake-OpenAI partnership builds on the two companies' earlier collaboration that includes OpenAI's use of the Snowflake platform for experiment tracking, analytics and testing. Snowflake employees, meanwhile, leverage OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise internally for a range of tasks including decision making, managing workflows and cross-functional collaboration. "Snowflake is a trusted platform that sits at the center of how enterprises manage and activate their most critical data," said Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, also in the statement. "This partnership brings our advanced models directly into that environment, making it easier to deploy AI agents and apps, so businesses can close the gap between what AI is capable of and the value they can create today." Snowflake and OpenAI said their expanded joint development work will result in new features that leverage the OpenAI Apps SDK, AgentKit and APIs that support shared enterprise workflows. The partnership, according to the companies, will better enable enterprises to build state-of-the-art AI agents that are powered by Cortex AI and can "reason over governed data and take action across tools and apps." The Snowflake-OpenAI collaboration also provides the ability to use Cortex AI Functions to tap into OpenAI models to analyze data of all types, including unstructured text, images and audio, using SQL. As part of the announcement, Snowflake and OpenAI cited graphic design platform company Canva and fitness wearable device maker WHOOP as examples of customers who stand to benefit from the new partnership. "As we scale our visual AI offering on Canva, both OpenAI and Snowflake have played key roles in how we rapidly empower our users with new creative tools," said Helen Crossley, Canva head of data science, in a statement. "As our platform continues to scale, Snowflake has been foundational to how we manage and activate data, and we're excited to explore how leveraging OpenAI models in Snowflake Cortex AI can help us extend that foundation. The ability to bridge advanced AI models with our enterprise data allows us to move quickly and test new ideas, without compromising on security or performance." WHOOP already uses Snowflake Intelligence to develop AI agents for data analysis and decision-making tasks, the Snowflake-OpenAI announcement said, quoting Matt Luizzi, WHOOP's senior director of business analytics. "With OpenAI's models available directly within Snowflake Cortex AI, we can further enhance those agents with advanced reasoning and analysis, all while maintaining strong security and governance," he said.