Microsoft and OpenAI are planning to embark on a massive project for a data center that could cost up to $100 billion. The project will include a giant artificial intelligence-powered computer named “Stargate.” A new report published on the “The Information” tech site.
According to the report, citing informed sources, Microsoft is likely to bear the funding costs of the project, which amounts to nearly 100 times more than the cost of the largest current data centers.
The report states that Microsoft’s executives are aiming to launch the project by the year 2028.
The proposed massive data center, as mentioned in the report, will be located in the United States and will be the largest in a series of facilities that the two companies plan to build in the next six years.
“Stargate” is the fifth stage in a series of giant computers being developed jointly by Microsoft and OpenAI. Microsoft’s team is working on a giant computer that is smaller in size than the previous stage developed by OpenAI. It is expected to be launched around 2026 according to the report.
The report also indicates that Microsoft and OpenAI are in the middle of the third phase of a five-stage plan, heavily relying on buying the required artificial intelligence chips to operate the massive data center.
In response to the recently published report, Frank Shaw, a spokesperson for Microsoft, said: “We are always planning for the next generation of infrastructure innovations to continue pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence capabilities.”
The report mentions that the proposed project’s budget could exceed $115 billion, more than three times what Microsoft spent last year on servers, buildings, and other equipment.
The high cost is linked to the increasing prices of artificial intelligence chips from foreign suppliers, where the price of the latest AI-specific chip from Nvidia, known as Blackwell B200, ranges between $30,000 and $40,000. The project is said to rely on different chip suppliers.
