Can AI answer the $3 trillion question? | TechCrunch
techcrunch.com · 583 words · saved by 1 readers
The AI ROI debate has returned and the numbers are even bigger, as are, perhaps, the consequences.
Three years ago, Sequoia partner David Cahn was one of the first people to do the math and put a number on the implications of Silicon Valley’s titanic spend on AI infrastructure. In 2023, he was reacting to Nvidia’s reported annual GPU revenue of $50 billion. Starting with that figure, and adding in the implied costs of operating the data centers and the margins for their operators, he deduced that $200 billion in revenue would be required to pay back the up-front investment. He took it as a challenge, asking entrepreneurs to come up with AI products and services to make use of, and…
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