An AI cloud-computing organization funded by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb has invested approximately $500 million in Nvidia's advanced chips. According to a report by Reuters, this investment aims to transform the landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) computing by addressing the shortage of AI chips.
The CEO of Voltage Park, Eric Park, told the media publication that the organization had secured 24,000 Nvidia H100 chips designed to cater to the demands of large AI models used for various applications, including text generation, coding, image processing, video analysis, and audio synthesis. The company plans to lease computing capacity to businesses engaged in AI projects.
Revolutionizing AI Computing?
These high-performance chips are set to offer both long-term and short-term AI computing solutions at an affordable cost. Park expressed the firm's mission to reshape the AI landscape: "It’s our belief that basically the current ecosystem for machine learning is broken."
Voltage Park plans to set up clusters of the Nvidia AI chips in strategic locations such as Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Some of these chips are already operational, and the company anticipates to deploy 24,000 Nvidia chips by February.
Recently, the demand for advanced AI silicon has skyrocketed, especially following the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Many businesses have been scrambling to acquire powerful chips to fuel their ambitions in the sector. Companies like Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and numerous startups offer competing AI chips and are currently experiencing high demand.
Rising Interest in AI Chip Development
Recently, OpenAI announced that it was exploring the AI chip development arena, a response to the pressing shortage of these critical components that power its projects.
According to a report by Finance Magnates, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has recognized the significance of securing an reliable supply of AI chips. Notably, OpenAI has been relying on a massive supercomputer equipped with 10,000 Nvidia's GPUs since 2020, a powerful but expensive setup.
In a separate development, SoftBank disclosed plans to invest in the AI space in September, following the successful initial public offering of its subsidiary, Arm, a prominent British chip manufacturer. Finance Magnates reported that Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, is considering an investment in OpenAI, as cited by the Financial Times.
