Microsoft Partners with Venture Capital Firms to Provide Free AI Chip Resources for AI Startups
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Amid the current AI chip shortage, Microsoft announced it will offer select privileged startups free access to its Azure cloud's 'supercomputing' resources for AI model development. Microsoft today revealed an upgrade to its startup program 'Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub,' which now includes a free Azure AI infrastructure option for 'high-end' startups. This includes access to Nvidia GPU virtual machine clusters for training and running generative models, including large language models like ChatGPT. Y Combinator and its startup community will be the first to gain access to private preview clusters. Why Y Combinator?
Microsoft's VP of Growth and Ecosystem, Annie Pearl, described YC as the 'ideal initial partner' due to its extensive experience working with startups 'at the earliest stages.' Pearl stated, 'We worked closely with Y Combinator to prioritize the needs of their current batch and alumni as part of our initial preview, focusing on tasks like training and refining use cases to drive innovation.'
This isn't Microsoft's first attempt to win over Y Combinator startups. In 2015, the company offered $500,000 in Azure credits to YC's Winter 2015 batch, a move seen as an effort to lure these startups away from competing cloud providers.
Microsoft doesn't entirely deny this. Pearl said, 'We believe Azure is the best system for building AI solutions, and we prioritize those building on Azure. This offering is for Azure-based startups and is part of our vision to make Microsoft the best cloud for AI solutions.'
The difference this time is that it's not just Y Combinator startups that will benefit. Microsoft stated it is collaborating with its own venture fund, M12, and startups in the M12 portfolio to expand access to these clusters. Over time, Microsoft plans to partner with more startup investors and accelerators to lower the barrier for any promising startup to train and run AI models—while, of course, familiarizing them with the Azure cloud platform.
Pearl stated, "While all cloud providers offer credits to startups, our approach aims to address the broader needs of this community by allowing these credits to be applied to the training and refinement work of early-stage startups." However, Microsoft made it clear that they are running a business, not a charity. Startups will not be able to run their AI models on clusters for free indefinitely. Pearl noted that access would be "time-limited," designed to help startups test and experiment rather than operate their businesses.
Despite this, Microsoft positions this offering as a unique initiative in the AI ecosystem. Pearl explained, "This program is a first-of-its-kind initiative for early-stage startups, allowing them to use Azure credits to run AI workloads. Essentially, this means that early-stage startups in the program will receive GPUs for free, which are typically restricted by larger clients, enabling them to train their AI models and drive the next wave of AI innovation."