Setting a cat among the pigeons

THE WORLD SHOULD EXPLORE NIMBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE OPTIONS TO THE STARGATE APPROACH

- GANESH NATARAJAN

The world has been watching closely the developments in artificial intelligence (AI) in the US and China. Most of the noise has emanated from Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google, and the astounding valuations enjoyed by Nvidia and OpenAI. Nvidia's production of graphics processing units (GPUs) has created such demand that the valuation of the company crossed $3.2 trillion. ChatGPT and, more recently, the video-to-text model Sora from the OpenAI stables can take credit for setting off the new wave of interest in AI and taken the company to a valuation of over $150 billion in its last fundraising. Despite protests from climate change activists over the enormous energy-guzzling demands of GPUs and large language models (LLMs), applications have burgeoned in areas ranging from architecture, engineering, and construction to media and entertainment, automotive, scientific research, and manufacturing design. They have necessitated investments in edge-to-cloud computing and in supercomputers and workstations for applications in these fields.

In this context, it is not surprising that the hot news of the day is the Stargate project, a massive $500-billion joint venture announced by Donald Trump, with Oracle and OpenAI as key partners. This initiative aims to boost AI infrastructure in the US, creating over 100,000 jobs and securing pole position for America's leadership in the contest. It has also been conceptualized with multiple partners. Nvidia and Microsoft will continue to be the key technology partners. Oracle will be a technology contributor and also a major infrastructure enabler. And OpenAI will lead the project's operations with SoftBank overseeing the financial commitments of various parties.