Microsoft offers free supercomputing to startups for AI development

“46% of new code is being written by AI, 75% of developers feel more focused and satisfied with their work using AI and 96% of developers claim they are working at a faster pace. AI is the next big platform and now that the first year of excitement around ChatGBT is over, now is the time for the start of the next best new brands to surface.”

This was stated by Adir Ron, Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft for Startups during an event hosted by Microsoft Malta to promote the support that the company can provide to local startups through its Microsoft Startups Founders Hub.

The event organised in collaboration with Malta Enterprise hosted several Maltese startups and individuals aspiring to start a new tech businesses who had the opportunity to learn more about the support that Microsoft can give them in terms of technology and experience.

AI Development Will Be Primary Goal Of Startups

Adir Ron explained how Microsoft’s Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub program will provide select startups with free access to high-performance “supercomputing” resources on its Azure cloud platform.

“The goal is to make it easier for early-stage artificial intelligence startups to develop, train, and run complex AI models by removing infrastructure cost barriers. We already know that

AI development will be the primary goal of the startups. Therefore, startups accepted into the program will get time-bound credits equivalent to thousands of dollars of Azure usage per month that can be used for AI workloads to help them test and refine their models during initial development phases when resources are most scarce,” he explained.

“When It Comes To Startups, The Support Is All There.”

Kevin Abela, Managing Director of TriStratus, a Microsoft startup company spoke of his experience working with Microsoft and how his company which started in 2021 is now employing 20 people, is about to onboard another six and is now opening a second office in Cairo to be able to pursue further growth in the Middle East.

“The support is all there and with the technological backing and mentorship that the Microsoft For Startups Founders Hub can provide, anyone with a great idea, a well-devised plan and the right dose of passion and commitment can succeed,” said Kevin Abela.

“The goal is to remove barriers to experimentation with innovative but complex AI use cases that require considerable data and computing power, like large language models similar to ChatGPT. Lowering these barriers could help more startups succeed with transformative AI solutions,” concluded Microsoft’s Adir Ron.

Addressing the event, Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia said “Malta Enterprise remains committed to fostering innovation and supporting the growth of agile, value-driven startups and scale-ups. We aim to create an ecosystem that not only provides funding avenues but also nurtures the growth of startups.”

“We are committed to helping to showcase all support available to startups – be it from public or private entities. This is the context of our collaboration for today’s event. I would like to thank Microsoft for their contribution to our ecosystem. It was great to see you engage with those present at the Start-Up Festival and we’re very glad to see you extending your services to Malta-based Start-Ups, we look forward to collaborating even more in the future.”