The global race for AI supremacy is rapidly evolving, shifting from a focus on chip manufacturing to a broader battle for cloud and data center dominance.
This development has far-reaching implications for the future of AI innovation, global politics, and our technological infrastructure.
Chris Miller, author of the influential book Chip War, recently highlighted this change.Drawing parallels between today's AI infrastructure and the tightly controlled supercomputers of the Cold War era.
But what does this mean for the future of AI, and why should businesses care?
I got the scoop from Paul Rutzer, founder and CEO of the Marketing AI Institute, on episode 108 of The Artificial Intelligence Show.
The new battlefield: the cloud and data centers
As AI systems become increasingly important to the global economy, countries around the world are looking to data centers and AI infrastructure as strategic resources. Miller's analysis shows:
- Many nations are investing heavily in building their AI infrastructure.
- Countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia are pouring resources into data center capacity
- US cloud companies see profitable opportunities in this trend, arguing that if they don't win contracts from foreign governments, competitors like China will.
Okay, so this is some heavy geopolitics…
Which is not always everyone's cup of tea. But it's important for every marketer and business leader trying to plan for the future.
“What this suggests is that major tech companies and leading governments are preparing for an intelligence explosion,” Reutzer explained.
“Whether economists are telling us this or not, whether the latest research report is telling us this or not, whether stock market movements are telling us this or not, when you look at a 3-10 year horizon So everyone is preparing for a world where intelligence is ubiquitous.”
Transition from training to estimation
Rutzer says this will lead to an even bigger boom in AI infrastructure.
“Right now, we have demand for Nvidia's chips, building these data centers, training these very large models,” he says. “Now we're trying to find applications for these models. In business.”
But it's still so early. Intelligence has not yet spread throughout society.
“We're using data and computing power to build models. But, in the future, the need is going to reverse.”
We're going to start with the process of using all of this infrastructure on training and using the trained models to make inferences or predictions or decisions.
As intelligence is added to everything we use, our phones, glasses, computers, appliances, cars, and more, expect the demand for inference computing power to skyrocket. With the infrastructure to meet this demand.
The coming intelligence explosion
Rutzer highlights several indicators of this coming “intelligence explosion.” In the relatively near future you can expect:
- Increasing CapEx spending on data centers by big tech companies
- Development of advanced AI assistants like OpenAI's new voice feature
- With advances in humanoid robotics, companies like Figure are gearing up to launch advanced models.
“What we have to keep in mind is that we're looking at the near future as business leaders, as practitioners, as knowledge workers,” Reutzer says.
“We're just trying to figure out how to use ChatGPT and find use cases, but you have to understand that governments and tech leaders are looking beyond that.”
Implications for business and professionals
This rapid growth in AI infrastructure and capabilities has important implications if you work for or run a business. Rutzer says firms need to think about three key areas.
- Strategic Planning: Businesses need to look 12-18 months ahead and plan for potential AI breakthroughs.
- Competitive advantage: Companies that anticipate and prepare for the “intelligence explosion” will likely outperform their competitors.
- Career Development: Professionals who understand and can work with advanced AI systems will become increasingly valuable.
“The best businesses, the companies that really differentiate themselves over the next five to 10 years, the leaders that become the most valuable, the practitioners that become the most valuable in their careers. They look 12 to 18 months out. will,” advises Rutzer. .