This paper is concerned with the sum-rate maximization problem in multiple-input multiple-output interference channels. We design the transmit covariance matrix, associated with each transmitter to maximize the sum-rate of the network when the number of data symbols is unknown. The design problem is nonconvex and then hard to be solved. We devise a semidistributed design methodology according to majorization-minimization technique to deal with the optimization problem. This leads us to a convex quadratically constrained quadratic program at each iteration with a semiclosed form solution. The proposed method is computationally efficient and converges to stationary points of the problem. The fact that the method is based on a distributed processing framework along with relatively low computational burden (O(max{M, N}^2.3) per iteration with M and N being the number of antennas at the transmitter and receiver, respectively) for the user terminals can make it a potential candidate for practical implementations. Finally, we extend the proposed method for the case with channel estimation errors. Simulation results verify the efficiency of the proposed method, and in a typical scenario we have around 60 times lower run-time when compared to the counterparts of the method.