Facebook Bets Big on AI: $Billions Spent on 350,000 Nvidia Graphics Cards for Machine Learning

Mark Zuckerberg said that by the end of 2024, Facebook will have 350,000 top-of-the-line Nvidia H100 graphics cards running its AI systems. This means that Facebook is putting all of its eggs in the AI basket.

Facebook wants to be a leader in AI technology, which is clear from the huge hardware growth. It certainly costs a lot, though—billions of dollars at least.

As Zuckerberg made clear in October of last year, Facebook’s top goal is AI: “AI will be our biggest investment area in 2024, both in engineering and computer resources.”

As promised, the company is greatly expanding its AI computer system. He said that by the end of 2024, Facebook will have 350,000 H100 GPUs.

As an example, Nvidia’s top-of-the-line H100 graphics card costs more than $40,000 per unit, which means Facebook could spend more than $14 billion just on H100 cards.

The extra hardware will help Facebook’s efforts to enter the metaverse and create new AI apps. The H100 is Nvidia’s most powerful GPU for the data center, and it’s perfect for teaching AI models complicated tasks.

Facebook can make huge improvements to computer vision, language, speech recognition, and recommendation systems because its hardware is the best in the world. More strong AI will lead to big steps forward in areas like personalized suggestions and deep social interaction.

Facebook’s plans for the metaverse will also be driven by the stronger infrastructure. Processing complicated physics simulations and 3D scenes is needed to make virtual worlds that feel real and let you interact with them. A lot of computer power is needed to run at scale.

The rush to buy cutting-edge AI gear shows how important the technology is for long-term goals. AI has the potential to change everything from scientific study to personalized advertising. Big tech companies are getting ready to lead the AI change.

Augustus K. Sampson, Professor of Technology Strategy at MIT, said, “Companies that don’t make the AI transition risk becoming irrelevant.” “AI leadership today translates into dominance in the future.”

AI is already a part of our lives, from smart assistants like Alexa to custom TikTok feeds. The technology will only become more important as it keeps getting better. No matter what, Facebook wants to shape that future.

The next few years will show which businesses are best at using powerful AI to come up with new ideas and make money. In any case, Mark Zuckerberg has already made a bet for Facebook. And there’s a big risk.