I'm a data center rat for a giant, evil corporation that I won't name right now. Today I had lunch with one of the Cisco field engineers that services our account.
He told me that "at least one, but we think two or three" very large AI players are, and have been for awhile, buying immense quantities of CPU/GPU/RAM for the sole purpose of keeping those chips out of the hands of their AI competitors. Not installing it in server gear - they're mothballing it.
For as long as I can remember Cisco would honor the price on a hardware quote for six months. Today, a quote for Cisco UCS server gear is locked in for seven days. Seven. Days.
We truly are living in interesting times.
[[I’m a data center rat for a giant, evil corporation that I won’t name right now.]]
Dr Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated? (From the cartoon Finnius and Ferb lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHtq-mlzY7s