Microsoft, OpenAI plan $100 billion data-center project, media report says

Stargate, an Artificial Intelligence Supercomputer and a large data center that could cost more than $100 billon, Reuters reports quoting The Information. The joint project between Microsoft and OpenAI is likely to be flagged off somewhere in the year 2028, the report adds.

According to Reuters, The Information states, Microsoft might fund the project, said to be over 100 times expensive and gigantic than some of the largest and currently existing data centers. However, The Information cites conversations between unnamed persons about this proposal.

The proposed U.S.-based supercomputer would be the biggest in a series the companies are looking to build over the next six years, the report added.

The Information claimed that the estimated cost of $100 billion was available from a person who spoke to Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI,  about it and a person who has viewed some of Microsoft’s initial cost estimates. However, The Information didn’t cite sources, the Reuters report adds.

Altman and Microsoft are believed to have spread these supercomputers across five phases, with Stargate as the fifth phase. Microsoft is working on a smaller, fourth-phase supercomputer for OpenAI to be launched around 2026, according to the report. Microsoft and OpenAI are in the middle of the third phase of the five-phase plan, with a significant portion of the cost for the next two phases involving acquiring the needed AI chips, the report said.

“We are always planning for the next generation of infrastructure innovations needed to continue pushing the frontier of AI capability,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. The spokesperson did not comment directly on the report about the planned launch of the Stargate supercomputer, reports Reuters. “Expenses for the plan could exceed $115 billion, more than triple Microsoft’s expenditure last year on capital spending for servers, buildings and other equipment”, the report stated.