Definition
AI cloud vertical integration means owning multiple layers of the AI stack — power, data centers, GPUs, and workload orchestration software — under one provider to capture more of customer AI spend and reduce multi-vendor friction.
Key Points
- neocloud operators historically rented GPUs; software layers (e.g. ray/anyscale) sat separately
- nscale–anyscale deal (Jul 2026) is a landmark infra+orchestration combination
- Tension: captive infra vs customer multi-cloud freedom (Anyscale pledged continued choice)