---
title: "Microsoft and OpenAI Reportedly Building $100 Billion Secret Supercomputer to Train Advanced AI"
description: "Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly working on a $100 billion supercomputer, codenamed Stargate, to train advanced new AI."
date: "2024-03-30"
modified: "2024-03-30"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-openai-supercomputer"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "OpenAI"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "microsoft"
  - "OpenAI"
  - "the digest"
---

# Microsoft and OpenAI Reportedly Building $100 Billion Secret Supercomputer to Train Advanced AI

![Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly working on a $100 billion supercomputer, codenamed Stargate, to train advanced new AI.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/microsoft-openai-supercomputer.jpg>)
*三維渲染人造空間 \<em\>Image: Getty Images\</em\>*

## Microsoft Sam

It's no secret that OpenAI and its [chief financier Microsoft](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-confirms-microsoft-expansion>) are charging ahead in a bid to make AI the next big thing in computing.

But a new scoop puts a new dollar figure on exactly how deep that commitment runs: citing unnamed sources familiar with the project, [*The Information* is reporting](<https://www.theinformation.com/articles/microsoft-and-openai-plot-100-billion-stargate-ai-supercomputer>) that the dynamic duo are working on a $100 billion — that's "billion" with a "b," meaning a sum exceeding many countries' gross domestic products — on a hush-hush supercomputer designed to train powerful new AI.

OpenAI didn't respond [to *Quartz*'s request for comment](<https://qz.com/microsoft-openai-stargate-supercomputer-1851375309>) about the facility, reportedly codenamed Stargate and scheduled to go online in 2028, but Microsoft didn't push back against the reporting in a statement it provided.

"Microsoft has demonstrated its ability to build pioneering AI infrastructure used to train and deploy the world’s leading AI models," a Microsoft spokesperson told the site. "We are always planning for the next generation of infrastructure innovations needed to continue pushing the frontier of AI capability."

## Money Makers

Needless to say, that's a mammoth investment. As such, it shines an even brighter spotlight on a looming question for the still-nascent AI industry: [how's the whole thing going to pay for itself](<https://futurism.com/experts-signs-ai-bubble>)?

So far, most companies in the space — Microsoft and OpenAI included — have offered significant AI services for free, sometimes with a more advanced upsell version like OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus.

It's certainly possible that a few winners will emerge with that subscription model, since many people already cough up comparable monthly sums for services like streaming video. But it's harder to imagine freemium keeping a particularly broad industry afloat, and even OpenAI already seems concerned about keeping costs down, as evidenced by its [tooth-and-nail fight to avoid paying for training data](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-copyrighted-material-parliament>).

And a fresh $100 billion commitment — nevermind the [staggering power and upkeep costs](<https://futurism.com/sam-altman-energy-breakthrough>) for such a facility — won't do anything to reduce that pressure.

**More on OpenAI:** [*The Person Who Was in Charge of OpenAI's $175 Million Fund Appears to Be Fake*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/fake-person-openai-fund>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)