Microsoft and OpenAI already have a tight partnership. OpenAI continues to develop its generative AI models with significant funding provided by Microsoft. In turn, Microsoft uses OpenAI's models to help develop their own Copilot assistants, along with offering OpenAI's models on its Azure cloud services.
Today, a new report from The Information, citing unnamed sources, claims Microsoft and OpenAI are working on a joint data center project that will include developing a new AI-based supercomputer. the report claims this project could cost as much as $100 billion.
The Information says that the project is being developed under the code name "Stargate". That also happens to be the name for the popular sci-fi film and TV show franchise from MGM. In that fictional universe, the Stargate program is a super-secret part of the US Air Force, where people from Earth travel to other planets via an alien-made portal that was discovered buried in Egypt.
Today's report claims that Microsoft and OpenAI are currently in the third phase of a plan that will take five phases to build and develop this supercomputer as part of this data center network. Microsoft is said to be responsible for the financing of this project, which will reportedly be completed sometime in 2028.
However, this report also claims that the Stargate project may be dependent on whether or not OpenAI will be able to deliver its next-generation AI LLM model, GPT-5 in a certain time frame. The Information claims OpenAI currently plans to launch GPT-5 sometime in early 2025.
This new report comes on the same day that OpenAI officially announced Voice Engine. This project has been designed to create an artificial voice based on a real person, using a 15-second sample of that person's voice. However, the company has yet to release this new model, partly due to its possible use of creating "deepfake" voice of real people.
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