Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly planning a staggering $100 billion U.S.-based data center project to power OpenAI’s next-generation of artificial intelligence systems.
According to a new report from The Information, citing unnamed sources involved in private discussions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others who viewed Microsoft’s initial cost estimates, suggest that the ambitious $100 billion project would likely be financed by Microsoft. This project is expected to be 100 times more expensive than some of the biggest, most powerful data centers currently in the world.
The data center project would house a new AI-based supercomputer codenamed ‘Stargate’. It could utilize several hundred acres of land, featuring millions of next-gen, specialized server chips, and need up to 5 gigawatts of power. This project is still in the early stages, and Microsoft executives want to launch it as early as 2028, the report said.
Further, the envisioned supercomputer, ‘Stargate,’ will be the biggest in a series of supercomputers that Microsoft and OpenAI plan to build over the next six years. Stargate is reportedly part of the fifth and final phase.
Currently, both companies are believed to be in the middle of the third phase of the five-phase plan, with a “significant portion” of the cost of the next two phases leading into Stargate, which will go solely on acquiring the AI chips needed to complete the remaining phases.
“Microsoft has demonstrated its ability to build pioneering AI infrastructure used to train and deploy the world’s leading AI models. We are always planning for the next generation of infrastructure innovations needed to continue pushing the frontier of AI capability,” Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw said in a statement to The Information.
Meanwhile, the Redmond giant is also working on a smaller, fourth-phase supercomputer for OpenAI, which is expected to launch in 2026. In addition, OpenAI is reportedly expected to release its next major AI upgrade by early next year.
