On the map

At the centre The binding constraints on AI's growth are power, helium and memory — and almost nobody has noticed the helium one. Holds LTLip-Bu Tan Read this korrent →

• Same subject: semiconductors A government taking a stake in its chipmaker is ordinary infrastructure policy — Taiwan, Japan and Singapore all did it. Holds LTLip-Bu Tan
• Same subject: semiconductors A homebuilt accelerator forces you to be your own operator; Nvidia systems are designed for anyone to operate, which is why they are in every cloud. Holds JHJensen Huang
• Same subject: semiconductors A semiconductor fab costs what it costs because it is a mass-production factory that has to hold atomic precision around the clock. Holds BPBrian Potter
• Same subject: semiconductors A semiconductor fab is mostly its tools; the building around them is the cheap part. Holds BPBrian Potter
• Same subject: semiconductors AMD's hardware is in many ways better than NVIDIA's and it does not matter, because the software gulf is too large and AMD has never resourced closing it. Holds DPDylan Patel
• Same subject: semiconductors An outside expert's understanding of somebody else's problem is bounded, because they do not have to live with the design after they leave. Holds KBKent Beck
• Same subject: semiconductors Anyone who cannot write a full software stack for NVIDIA's generic GPUs has no chance of writing one for their own, more specialised, AI chip. Holds GHGeorge Hotz
• Same subject: semiconductors ASML has never raised the price of a tool by more than it raised the tool's capability, which makes it the most generous monopoly in the industry. Holds DPDylan Patel