The demand for infinite compute

In this episode, Azeem Azhar discusses the significant investments in AI infrastructure, data centers, and the substantial profits of tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, arguing that these are indicative of a broader economic shift towards computation. He explains that the rapid growth in cloud businesses, driven by AI workloads, and the increasing use of AI services by enterprises worldwide highlight an insatiable demand for computing power. Azhar supports this claim by referencing his research, which estimates a 62% annual growth in global computational stock over the past 50 years, and he contrasts this with the diminishing marginal utility of other goods, like donuts, to illustrate the unique and ever-increasing demand for computation in various sectors, including business, science, and entertainment. He concludes that this computational build-out is different from other infrastructure booms because the demand for computation is practically unlimited, driven by the continuous discovery of new applications and the increasing efficiency of computational processes.