Google I/O: TPU Training Day
Meet Timmy, a plucky TPU chip gearing up for the biggest day of his life.
For Google I/O 2026, Nexus Studios and director Laurie Rowan created this charming homage to the classic ’80s training montage. Screened to a global developer audience as CEO Sundar Pichai took to the stage for his opening keynote, the film spotlights Google’s next-generation processors, which are built to accelerate AI workloads.
We figured: what better way to tell the story of next-gen microchips than to use the very technology which they power? So, working closely with the Google team, we developed the animation using a bespoke hybrid pipeline here at Nexus HQ.
To bring Timmy and his pals to life, the production seamlessly combined handcrafted character design, live-action puppetry, and CGI animation, utilizing Google’s generative AI tools as an innovative final rendering layer.
Client
Google
Production Company
Nexus Studios
Director
Laurie Rowan
NEXUS STUDIOS
Production Company
Nexus Studios
Director
Laurie Rowan
Executive Producer
Anthony Austin
Producer
Electra Fotopoulou
Jo Bierton
Production Manager
Soulla King
Sarah McDonald
Runners
Adam Vincent
Jack Taylor
Executive Creative Director
Chris O’Reillly
Creative Director
Ryan Delehanty
Technical Director
German Diez
Studio CG Lead
Florian Caspar
AI Compositors
Zsolt Sebok
Miguel Basulto
Compositors
Caroline Pires
Nicholas Neff
Pedram Razi
Ioana Staiculescu
Ignacio Vicent
Claudio Marcos
Character Designer
Antonin Herveet
Character Modelling & Texturing
Lucas De Miguel
Props Modelling/Texturing
Irina Nguyen
Environment Artist
Alfred Llupia
Environment Modelling
Andy Spence
Patrick Tomasini
Zach Pindolia
3D Previs
Steve White
3D Rigging
Niko Rossi
Lead 3D Animator
Steve White
3D Animators
Jean Guillaume Culot
Marta Pevida
Rodrigo Torres
Martin Rossi
Syed Arif Hassan
Physical Model Build
Anastasia Rondanini
Puppet Build
Arch Model Studio
Puppet Maintenance
Ben Cockerill
Camera Operator
Jen Armstrong
Puppeteer
Olly Taylor
Lighting & Rendering
Pawel Adamiec
Lucas De Miguel
Patrick Tomasini
Storyboard Artist
Morgan Ritchie
Motion Designer
Michael Muller
AI Concept
Pablo Romanos
Matte Painting
Pablo Romanos
Alfred Lupia
Editor
David Slade
Associate Editor
Andrea Zantiras
Head of Production
Rachel Moss
Creative Manager
Lisa Kenney
PR & Marketing
Bruce Bigg
Nancy Edmondson
Esme Harvey Otway
Talent Acquisition Manager
Sophia Whyte
Talent Manager
Indiana Wilson
SOUND
Audio Post-Production
Factory Studios
Sound Design & Mix
Josh Campbell
Senior Audio Producer
Olivia Endersby
VO Artists
Ryan Delehanty
Vanessa Marshall
Topher Ngo