Microsoft is updating its startup program to offer a free Azure AI infrastructure option for high-end GPU virtual machine clusters. This is aimed at training and running large language models and deep learning models. Y Combinator and its community of startup innovators will be the first to access this offering. Microsoft is also working with M12, its venture fund, to provide these resources to startups in M12’s portfolio.
Microsoft Updates Startup Program with High-Performance Azure AI Infrastructure
Microsoft has announced an update to its startup program, now including a free Azure AI infrastructure option. This high-end GPU virtual machine clusters are designed for training and running large language models and other deep learning models.
First Access to Y Combinator Startups
Y Combinator (YC) and its community of startup innovators will be the first to access this offering. YC, known for launching transformative companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, and Stripe, will now have the technical resources to quickly prototype and bring to market cutting-edge AI innovations.
“With the overwhelming infrastructure requirements needed to do AI at scale, we believe that providing startups with high-performance capabilities tailored for demanding AI workloads will empower our startups to ship faster,” said Michael Seibel, Managing Director of Y Combinator.
Collaboration with M12
Microsoft is also working with M12, its venture fund, and the startups in M12’s portfolio. These startups will gain access to dedicated supercomputing resources, further empowering their AI innovations.
Future Vision
Microsoft’s vision is to partner with additional startup investors and accelerators, aiming to lower the barrier to training and running AI models for any promising startup.
Azure AI: Fueling Groundbreaking Innovations
Microsoft Azure offers cloud-based scalable AI infrastructure, built for the world’s most sophisticated AI workloads. Azure AI infrastructure is fueling groundbreaking innovations. With Azure’s global infrastructure of AI-accelerated server offerings with networked GPUs, startups building advanced AI systems can leverage these high-performance capabilities.
Simplifying Deployment and Management
Microsoft will provide tools to simplify deployment and management through Azure Machine Learning. This includes easy low-code or code-based training of custom models, simplified deployment, and optimizations like Low Rank Adaptation, DeepSpeed, and ONNX Runtime (ORT).
Secure and Responsible AI
Startups can deploy AI solutions with peace of mind knowing all deployments are secure and backed by Microsoft’s principles for Responsible AI.
Empowering Startups to Lead AI Innovation
AI is transforming industries and startups are leading that innovation, creating new business and societal value quicker than many thought possible. A recent KPMG survey revealed that 75% of U.S. CEOs see generative AI as a top investment priority, with 83% anticipating an increase in generative AI investment by more than 50%.
From the The Official Microsoft Blog
