Microsoft Works with OpenAI on ‘Stargate’ Data Center
Microsoft and OpenAI are collaborating to build a large new data center, called Stargate. The $100B project would help OpenAI train and deliver their models, but many details remain to be spelled out.
What Is Stargate?
Stargate is an ambitious data center project, which, if completed, could lead to the creation of the world’s largest data center. Microsoft has already leveraged its partnership with OpenAI through Azure to deliver AI services to enterprise customers. In AI, where access to computing is king, this project represents a major bid to advance the partners’ capacities in training models and delivering AI-based services.
However, the report that initially uncovered news of Stargate points out that the computer’s release will depend on OpenAI’s product strategy, and its ability to release models and deliver in the following year. Despite its first-mover advantage, OpenAI has met serious challenges from players like Google and Anthropic.
The Next Era of AI Will Require Superhuman Compute
The news about Stargate confirms what many already suspected about the development of AI. Extending beyond our current capabilities will require a comparably massive investment in data centers to train and deploy models. On one hand, it shows the immense costs of scaling AI, but on the other hand, it suggests that leading providers remain confident that scaling will be an effective way to continue improving capabilities.
The Stargate project also suggests that Microsoft and OpenAI acknowledge Google’s advantage in raw computing and are setting themselves up to compete in this area. While OpenAI’s models have dominated the discourse on AI, Google’s TPU production puts it in a position where it may soon have more combined computing power than other major AI firms combined. Stargate could help equalize this balance.
Bottom Line
For now, Stargate faces an uncertain future, with its release seemingly dependent on OpenAI’s software offerings, it remains to be seen how this ambitious data center project will unfold.
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