SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Alphabet's

Google Cloud revealed Tuesday it has lined up about $58 billion

in new revenue over the next two years as it vies to become a

more central component of the tech giant's future.

The company said during its July earnings that the cloud

division had surpassed a $50 billion annual revenue run rate.

Google Cloud's backlog of non-recognized sales contracts is

growing even faster than its revenue, unit chief Thomas Kurian

told investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology

conference.

About 55% of the $106 billion backlog should convert into

revenue within two years, he said. This number accounts only for

existing commitments, not new contracts or customers that it

expects to land. The unit saw a 28% increase in new customers

quarter-over-quarter, Kurian said.

Nine of the 10 leading artificial intelligence labs in terms of

size are now customers, Kurian said at the conference. That

includes rivals of Google's own AI efforts like ChatGPT maker

OpenAI, as Reuters first reported in June, and Anthropic, which

was valued at $183 billion this month.

Cloud computing sales only accounted for 14% of Alphabet's

total revenue last quarter, far less than the advertising that

revolves around Google's search engine, but it is one of

Alphabet's fastest-growing business lines.

As the tech industry seeks to prove to Wall Street that AI can

deliver returns commensurate with its hefty spending, Google

Cloud has found itself in an advantageous position. The unit's

rise comes as Google's core search business attempts to monetize

new AI interfaces while battling regulatory challenges in Europe

and the U.S. that could help rivals to gain ground.

In July, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai cited cloud demand as the

primary reason for an increase in 2025 capex plans to $85

billion from $75 billion.