OpenAI will build and open AI infrastructure worth $500 billion in the United States over the next four years in partnership with SoftBank. The two entities merged to establish a new company called the Stargate Project to build AI data centers for the maker of ChatGPT, and according to their announcement, it will “secure American leadership in AI” as well as “create hundreds of thousands of American jobs .” SoftBank will finance the project, while OpenAI will manage its operations. Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, will serve as its chairman.
While OpenAI and SoftBank will serve as lead partners of the Stargate Project, there are several other companies involved in the initiative. In addition to OpenAI, Arm, NVIDIA, Oracle and, of course, Microsoft will be its main partners in the initial technology. The company's official announcement says OpenAI, NVIDIA and Oracle will work together to “build and operate this computing system,” though it doesn't explain what that means.
As for Microsoft, the company posted a announcement about its involvement in the project and said it will continue its “strategic partnership” with OpenAI. Microsoft still has the right to use the OpenAI IP in its products, and the OpenAI API will still run on Azure. However, it will no longer be OpenAI's exclusive provider of computing capacity. Whenever OpenAI needs additional capacity as its needs grow, Microsoft will have a “right of first refusal,” which means the developer of ChatGPT will have to check it first before working with other parties.
The Stargate Project is shelling out $100 billion immediately for its first data center buildouts, starting with one in Texas. Count TechCrunch note, it was previously reported that OpenAI is in talks with Oracle to lease a data center in Abilene, Texas that could account for nearly one gigawatt of electricity by 2026. It did not mention other sites, but it said that it is “reviewing potential” locations across the country.
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