A Guardian investigation has uncovered an apparent discrepancy between Microsoft's public statements on its AI capacity and the actual number of advanced AI chips it has in operation. Internal documents, reportedly seen by the Guardian, indicate Microsoft has 2.2 million AI chips installed in its global datacentres.
This figure is less than half the number some experts had imagined, especially given Microsoft's reported target of 1.8 million AI chips by the end of 2024. The apparent shortfall suggests that Microsoft's newest datacentres may not be fully operational or lack the necessary chips.
Microsoft has invested approximately $280 billion into AI infrastructure since 2022, including over $41 billion in the past quarter. However, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, Shaolei Ren, suggests Microsoft's sustainability reports indicate a lower AI capacity in 2024 than the company's own claims, which would still imply a need for roughly 4 million AI chips if 5GW of AI datacentres were added in the past two years.
Microsoft has stated that the Guardian's calculations are based on incorrect information but did not provide further details. Sources within Microsoft reportedly indicate that the company's total number of AI chips has "barely moved" over the past year.