Merck to invest $1B in decade-long Google Cloud AI partnership
Google Cloud will receive up to $1 billion from Merck over the next decade to fund AI infrastructure, Gemini Enterprise licensing and engineering support. The collaboration will deploy Google's AI tools across Merck’s drug research, regulatory submissions, manufacturing and commercial operations, having already halved dossier compilation time and cost.
1. Investment scope and duration
Merck has committed up to $1 billion over multiple years, expecting the collaboration to span at least a decade. Funds will support AI infrastructure, licensing of the Gemini Enterprise platform and dedicated engineering resources from Google Cloud.
2. Collaboration framework
Google Cloud engineers will embed with Merck teams to integrate AI capabilities across research, regulatory, manufacturing and commercial functions. The partnership builds on existing work and will scale use of Google’s AI tools globally.
3. AI deployment and early results
Merck plans to run computerized simulations of lab experiments, speed regulatory submissions and optimize manufacturing workflows using AI. Initial use of Google technology has already cut dossier compilation time and cost by half, with global scaling underway.