News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by throwatdem12311 on Sunday March 29, 2026 @07:22AM (#47562203)
The hyperscalers do not want us running models at the edge and they will spend infinite amounts of circular fake money to ensure hardware remains prohibitively expensive forever.
Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by topspin on Sunday March 29, 2026 @07:54AM (#47562367)
> they will spend infinite amounts of circular fake money > forever

If that's the plan (there is no plan) then it expires at some point, because it's a spiral and such spirals always bottom out.

Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by throwatdem12311 on Sunday March 29, 2026 @08:17AM (#47562536)
And when that happens people STILL won’t be able to afford the hardware.
Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by lelanthran on Sunday March 29, 2026 @10:57AM (#47563711)
> And when that happens people STILL won’t be able to afford the hardware.

Of course they will - if that happens all these AI token providers won't have a use for all that hardware they bought. You'll be buying used H100s and H200s off eBay for pennies on the dollar.

Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by throwatdem12311 on Sunday March 29, 2026 @12:07PM (#47564371)
No they won’t they’re just going to get absorbed into Azure and AWS and used for generic GPU compute that you rent until they’re burned out trash.
Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by Dylan16807 on Monday March 30, 2026 @12:08PM (#47576100)
Then those datacenters will barely need any new GPUs, so the companies making them will be desperate to get gamers to buy cards and set very competitive prices.
Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by Imustaskforhelp on Sunday March 29, 2026 @07:46AM (#47562315)
> of circular fake money

Oh it gets worse than that, the money which caused all of this by OpenAI was taken from Japanese banks at cheap interest rates (by softbank for the stargate project), and the Japanese Banks are able to do it because of Japanese people/Japanese companies and also the collateral are stocks which are inflated by the value of people who invest their hard earned money into the markets

So in a way they are using real hard earned money to fund all of this, they are using your money to basically attack you behind your backs.

I once wrote an really long comment about the shaky finances of stargate, I feel like suggesting it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47297428

Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by joquarky on Sunday March 29, 2026 @03:32PM (#47566405)
What is the difference between "hard earned" and not?
Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by Imustaskforhelp on Sunday March 29, 2026 @04:55PM (#47567216)
Well cartel money for example, depends on the definition of hard earned but I don't quite imagine for example the japanese Yakuza to deposit into banks/stock markets for example, I am not sure but I imagine something like gold/cash being used.

Maybe you can argue that yakuza is making hard earned money but imo, they are doing illegal activities within the law and are doing something more closer to extortion.

Ironically, in a sense, what AI did in a sense is also an extortion.

One is just legal (barely, I am not even sure how or why), the other isn't. That was my intention to highlight when I said hard earned money.

Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by naasking on Sunday March 29, 2026 @08:42AM (#47562708)
> and they will spend infinite amounts of circular fake money to ensure hardware remains prohibitively expensive forever.

That's ridiculous, "infinite money" isn't a thing. They will spend as much as they can not because they want to keep local solutions out, but because it enables them to provide cheaper services and capture more of the market. We all eventually benefit from that.

Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by lelanthran on Sunday March 29, 2026 @11:01AM (#47563758)
> That's ridiculous, "infinite money" isn't a thing.

My reading of GP is that he was being sarcastic - "infinite amounts of circular fake money" is probably a reference to these circular deals going on.

If A hands B investment of $100, then B hands A $100 for purchase of hardware, A's equity in B, on paper, is $100, plus A has revenue of $100 (from B), which gives A total assets of $200.

Obviously it has to be shuffled more thoroughly, but that's the basic idea that I thought GP was referring to.

Re:What if AI doesn't need more RAM but better math? by throwatdem12311 on Sunday March 29, 2026 @10:18AM (#47563367)
Cheaper for who? For them maybe but certainly not for you or me.