Even the largest data centers on Earth cost between $250 million and several billion dollars. So why does Microsoft’s data center cost $100 billion?
In reality, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI and has actively supported the company’s AI operations since 2019. Most of the computing power and cloud servers that power ChatGPT come from Microsoft.
In a recent move, Microsoft may fund the world’s most expensive data center project. They are planning to build a supercomputer facility with OpenAI at a cost exceeding $100 billion, focusing on the Stargate supercomputer.
The tech giant Microsoft is currently seeking a location in the United States to establish its data center.
Even the largest data centers on Earth cost between $250 million and several billion dollars. So why does Microsoft’s data center cost $100 billion? (Photo: MAXIPHOTO / GETTY IMAGES).
This project is expected to take six years to complete, divided into five phases. In the fourth phase, Microsoft plans to develop and launch a smaller supercomputer than Stargate, but more powerful than most existing systems. They hope to achieve this milestone by 2026, with this supercomputer potentially supporting AI tools for voice recognition or converting text to video from OpenAI.
In the fifth phase of this data center project, Microsoft and OpenAI will proceed to develop a next-generation AI supercomputer named Stargate, which is anticipated to go operational in 2028.
Once this project is completed, Microsoft and OpenAI will have enough equipment to train the world’s most powerful AI models, including future versions of cutting-edge ChatGPT. A Microsoft representative stated: “We are always planning for the next generation of infrastructure, which is essential to continue enhancing artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.”
Experts estimate that all these phases could cost Microsoft a total of approximately $115 billion, with the majority, around $100 billion, being spent in the fourth and fifth phases.
Typical data centers do not cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Even the largest data centers on Earth cost between $250 million and several billion dollars. So why is Microsoft’s proposed data center priced at $100 billion?
This high cost is related to the development of artificial intelligence. Compared to traditional data centers, AI data centers require more energy, advanced hardware cooling systems, a higher number of chips (potentially millions), as well as larger data processing and cloud storage capabilities.
Tracy Woo, an IT research analyst, told the WSJ: “Due to the workloads of generative AI requiring more computational capacity, and also significantly affecting energy efficiency and cooling in data centers, cloud costs will certainly continue to rise as more companies adopt generative AI. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear about a data center in the future costing more than $100 billion.”
