IBM and OpenAI announced a strategic partnership on 13 August 2026 to integrate advanced AI models into IBM Consulting's enterprise platform. The collaboration will bring OpenAI's GPT-5.6, Codex and ChatGPT Work into IBM Consulting Advantage, targeting deployments across financial services, government, telecommunications and retail. IBM will establish a dedicated OpenAI Practice with thousands of certified consultants and engineers. The partnership aims to help organisations modernise workflows in finance, procurement, customer operations and human resources whilst addressing security and governance requirements. "The challenge is not access to AI technologies — it's integrating AI securely and at scale into complex enterprise environments," said Andy Baldwin, Global Senior Vice President at IBM Consulting. The collaboration focuses on transforming legacy processes, application modernisation and software development.

IBM signed a $240 million deal with Together AI to build an Nvidia-powered AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud, announced 11 August. The cluster will use roughly 2,000 Nvidia Blackwell 300 chips and is expected to sell out two to three months before going live. The deal comes as IBM faces challenges turning scattered growth into sustained momentum. Software revenue rose 5% year-over-year in the most recent quarter, with Red Hat up 11%. However, overall revenue grew just 1% to $17.2 billion in the quarter ended 30 June, prompting IBM to cut full-year guidance from more than 5% growth to 4-5%. IBM shares have fallen 33% from their 52-week high and remain down 19% for the year.

IBM has issued bonds in Canada for the first time in 14 years, offering notes maturing in 2030 and 2034 with coupon rates of 4.10% and 4.75% respectively. The offering will be distributed through private placement in Canada and public registration in the United States. The move aligns with a broader trend of foreign issuers entering Canada's corporate debt market, which saw non-domestic issuance grow 18% year-on-year in 2024. IBM joins technology peers including Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon in tapping Canadian investors. The bond proceeds are designated for general corporate purposes, with no specific project identified. This allows IBM flexibility to allocate capital towards artificial intelligence and quantum computing initiatives as part of its strategic shift toward software and services. The pricing represents a spread of approximately 25–35 basis points above Canadian benchmark yields, reflecting IBM's investment-grade rating and favourable market conditions for foreign issuers.