Microsoft and OpenAI team up for $100 billion AI data center project featuring ‘Stargate’ supercomputer.
Microsoft and OpenAI have joined forces for a groundbreaking data-center endeavor expected to reach a massive $100 billion in costs. At the core of this venture is the creation of a cutting-edge artificial intelligence supercomputer known as “Stargate,” according to sources.
According to Tietoraport, which is privy to private discussions about the proposal, Microsoft is expected to lead the financing of this ambitious project. The scale of the investments would reduce existing data centers by a factor of 100, which would represent a paradigm shift in responding to the growing demand for infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence.
Growing demand for advanced AI infrastructure
The increase in demand is largely due to the rapid integration of generative AI technologies, which requires new types of data centers that can handle more complex computing tasks.
According to the report, OpenAI, which is due to introduce its next major AI upgrade next year, is ready to align its progress with the release of “Stargate,” which is slated to hit the market as early as 2028.
Designed in the US, the supercomputer is slated to be the flagship installation among future projects to be implemented over the next six years.
While details of the massive $100 billion investment came from undisclosed sources, conversations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and glimpses of Microsoft’s preliminary cost estimates hinted at the project’s massive scale.
Microsoft’s strategic roadmap for developing supercomputing capabilities includes five distinct phases, and “Stargate” is the culmination of this development journey. It will be preceded by a fourth-stage supercomputer that is scheduled to debut around 2026 and is specifically tailored to OpenAI’s requirements.
Currently, Microsoft and OpenAI are entrenched in the third phase of their collaboration plan, with a significant portion of future spending earmarked for specialized AI chips critical to powering these cutting-edge devices.
Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw emphasized the continued pursuit of innovation in the infrastructure essential to pushing the limits of AI capabilities. Reuters reports that this ambitious effort, which is expected to cost more than $115 billion, represents a huge leap forward, surpassing Microsoft’s capital expenditures of the previous year by more than three times.
