Google is not shying away from the challenge presented by Microsoft in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), according to Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind. Speaking at a TED conference, Hassabis stated that he expects Google to invest over $100 billion in the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) in the future. His comments were in response to Microsoft’s recent announcement of the “Stargate” project, a $100 billion supercomputer initiative in collaboration with OpenAI. The project aims to train AI systems.
To put the proposed costs into perspective, the most powerful supercomputer in the world, Frontier, cost approximately $600 million to build. Stargate, on the other hand, will consist of a series of computers spread across the U.S. in five phases, with the final phase being the “Stargate” system.
Hassabis’ comments suggest that Google is aware of Microsoft’s efforts and is prepared to invest just as much, if not more, in AGI development. The goal for both companies is to be the first to achieve AGI, which refers to an AI system that can perform tasks at the level of an average adult human, given the necessary resources. This includes the ability to start and run a business with access to financial resources and the internet.
Developing AGI is a challenging task, as there is no scientific consensus on what AGI is or how to create it. Even prominent AI scientists like Yann LeCun and Demis Hassabis have differing opinions on whether AGI can be achieved using current methods or if it can be achieved at all.
In a Financial Times article published in March, Hassabis compared the current hype surrounding AI and AGI to the scams in the cryptocurrency market. Despite the hype, both AI and crypto have experienced significant growth in the financial sector in the first four months of 2024. Bitcoin, for example, has more than doubled in value from $30,395 per coin in April 2023 to over $60,000 at the time of this article’s publication.
Meanwhile, Microsoft, the current leader in the AI industry, has seen its stock price rise from $286 per share to around $416 in the same time period.