Dell, Super Micro To Build Server Racks For Elon Musk’s xAI Supercomputer

Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer (SMC) have partnered with Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI, to build the server racks for its upcoming supercomputer. This collaboration, revealed by Musk on social media platform X, represents a significant stride in xAI’s ambitious plans to advance AI technology.

Dell Technologies will be responsible for assembling half of the server racks for the supercomputer. The other half will be constructed by Super Micro, a San Francisco-based company known for its close ties with chip makers like Nvidia and its expertise in liquid-cooling technology. 

This supercomputer is designed to power the next version of xAI's chatbot, Grok. Dell CEO Michael Dell also announced on X that Dell is working with Nvidia to build an "AI factory" which will support Grok's development. 

The training of sophisticated AI models like Grok requires immense computational power. Musk has previously stated that the Grok 2 model utilized approximately 20,000 Nvidia H100 graphics processing units (GPUs) for its training, and future models like Grok 3 will require around 100,000 Nvidia H100 chips.

Musk aims to have the supercomputer operational by the fall of 2025. This initiative points to xAI's mission to challenge leading AI companies such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Alphabet's Google. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, is positioning xAI as a formidable competitor in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.