OpenAI and Softbank are collaborating on a $500 billion AI data center project

OpenAI It will build and open $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years in partnership with SoftBank. The two entities have collaborated to establish a new company called Stargate project To build AI data centers for the maker of ChatGPT, which, according to their announcement, will “secure American leadership in AI” as well as “create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.” SoftBank will finance the project, while OpenAI will be responsible for its operations. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will serve as chairman of the board.

While OpenAI and SoftBank will serve as the lead partners for the Stargate project, there are several other companies involved in the initiative. In addition to OpenAI, Arm, NVIDIA, Oracle, and of course Microsoft, they will be the main initial technology partners. The company’s official announcement says OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Oracle will work together to “build and operate this computing ecosystem,” though it doesn’t explain what that means.

As for Microsoft, the company has published advertisement About her involvement in the project she said that she would continue her “strategic partnership” with OpenAI. Microsoft will still have the right to use the OpenAI IP on its products, and the OpenAI API will still run exclusively on Azure. However, it will no longer be OpenAI’s exclusive provider of computing capabilities. Whenever OpenAI needs additional capacity as its needs grow, Microsoft will have a “right of first refusal,” meaning the maker of ChatGPT must do so. Check with her first Before working with other parties.

The Stargate project will immediately release $100 billion to build its first data center, starting with one in Texas. like TechCrunch He notes, it was previously reported that OpenAI was in talks with Oracle to lease a data center in Abilene, Texas that could access nearly a gigawatt of electricity by 2026. It did not mention any other locations, but said it was “evaluating” potential sites in All over the country.

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