Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Guardian Nigeria
Published on 2024-04-10 03:06:19
Microsoft and OpenAI have joined forces to construct one of the world’s most expensive data center complexes at a whopping $100 billion. Reports from various media outlets have indicated that this center will also house an AI supercomputer called Stargate. The Information reported that Microsoft is likely to finance this ambitious project, which is expected to be a hundred times more expensive than some of the largest existing data centers around the globe. This information was gathered from people privy to private discussions about the proposed venture.
The proposed supercomputer, based in the United States, is part of a series of projects that the two companies are planning to build over the next six years. This massive undertaking would require millions of GPUs to be housed in the complex. Additionally, OpenAI is also gearing up to release its next major upgrade by early next year, as reported by The Information. Microsoft is also working on a smaller fourth-phase supercomputer for OpenAI, slated to be launched in 2026. The companies are currently in the third phase of a five-phase plan, with the remaining two phases focused on acquiring the necessary AI chips for the projects.
Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw stated that the company is always planning for the next generation of infrastructure innovations to push the boundaries of AI capability further. The total cost of this multi-faceted project is estimated to be $115 billion, which is more than three times what Microsoft spent last year on capital expenditures for servers, buildings, and equipment. Currently, there are over 10,000 data centers operating worldwide, with half of them located in the United States.
Washington DC is considered to be one of the most densely populated data center markets, with over 300 centers handling about one-third of the world’s online traffic. These centers support major tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Microsoft. Microsoft’s largest data center is located at the Columbia Data Center in Washington State, which opened in 2007. On the other hand, China Telecom’s Inner Mongolia Information Park is currently the largest data center in the world.
In other news, Microsoft has announced that it will sell its chat and video app, Teams, separately from its Office product globally. This decision comes six months after the company unbundled the two products in Europe to avoid a potential EU antitrust fine. The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft’s bundling of Office and Teams since a complaint filed in 2020 by Salesforce-owned competing messaging app, Slack. Teams, which was integrated into Office 365 in 2017 and replaced Skype for Business, gained popularity during the pandemic for its video conferencing capabilities.
Overall, Microsoft’s collaboration with OpenAI and its decision to sell Teams separately from Office reflect the company’s commitment to innovation and adapting to changing market trends. The construction of the $100 billion data center complex and the separate sale of Teams highlight Microsoft’s strategic vision for the future of technology and communication.
