Why AI needs a new kind of supercomputer network — the OpenAI Podcast Ep. 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?