Everyone loved Monday’s announcement by OpenAI and Nvidia. Of course they did. You only have to carve the words artificial intelligence on to a lamp post these days and it’ll be valued at millions.
But the more I think about OpenAI and Nvidia’s plan to build 10 gigawatts of computing power, the more I worry that investors are losing their grip. Massive numbers don’t seem to register. Being left in the dark is considered normal. Checks and balances barely exist.
One criticism of the deal is that it kind of sounds like a perpetual motion machine with Nvidia investing up to $100bn in OpenAI so the latter can buy more Nvidia chips. Forking out for growth is common, though — however ick. Samsung, Intel and TSMC invested in ASML to accelerate lithography development in order to boost demand for their own products. Netflix and Amazon fund studios which make content for them. Miners support refineries to guarantee offtake.