Why AI needs a new kind of supercomputer network - Episode 18

Training frontier models isn’t as simple as adding more GPUs—one small problem and the whole coordinated dance falls apart. OpenAI’s Mark Handley and Greg Steinbrecher discuss how a new supercomputer network design, used to train some of the company’s latest models, keeps the whole system moving in lockstep, even with record numbers of GPUs. They break down Multipath Reliable Connection, a new protocol OpenAI developed with AMD, Broadcom, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia, and why they’re making it available for the whole industry to use.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

00:39 Greg and Mark's paths to OpenAI

04:34 Why training AI stresses networks differently

10:05 Bottlenecks, failures, and the cost of waiting

15:19 How Multipath Reliable Connection works

18:59 A protocol to route around failures

25:05 Why OpenAI is making MRC an open standard

35:09 Could AI compute move to space?

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