$100 Billion Microsoft Stargate AI supercomputer will re-write the future

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By Matthew Griffin Computing 14th April 2024

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

When it comes to thinking big, especially when it comes to HPC and AI, this is the biggest announcement ever.

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A while ago Microsoft announced that they wanted to turn their global Azure cloud platform into the world’s largest supercomputer by harnessing the federated power of FPGAs, and now, a few years on they’ve just announced that they’re drawing up plans to build a $100 billion supercomputer, allegedly named “Stargate,” to power OpenAI’s next generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, according to a report from The Information Friday.

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Stargate is reportedly the fifth and final phase of Microsoft and OpenAI’s plan to build several supercomputers throughout the United States. The computer is rumoured to be one of the largest and most advanced data centers in the world. It could take up several hundred acres of land, and require up to 5 gigawatts of power. It’s considered crucial to OpenAI training and operating new, more advanced AI models than ChatGPT-4. Stargate could launch as soon as 2028.

The name Stargate comes from a 1994 science-fiction film about an interstellar teleportation device found in Egypt. The gateway leads to a far-away planet where Kurt Russel and James Spader must liberate enslaved people from a powerful false god.

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“The key to the past, the door to the future, the passage to discovery,” reads the official trailer to Stargate, which inspired OpenAI and Microsoft’s AI supercomputer.

The creation of Stargate is largely dependent on whether OpenAI can deliver its next major AI upgrade, rumored to be GPT-5, which The Information reports is due in early 2025. Microsoft wants to see that OpenAI is still pushing forward with AI models that continue to captivate the world. OpenAI reportedly failed to ship a new AI project named “Arrakis” in 2023, a sign the company’s innovation may be slowing, largely blaming the limitations of current supercomputers.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.