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DCs, GPUs, tokens: how much do we need, how much will we pay?
When it comes to AI infrastructure, is there too much incentive to build excessive supply or is the demand for AI usage (tokens consumed) big enough to justify the current pace of data center buildouts?
In a recent debate between SK Ventures’ Paul Kedrosky and Exponential View’s founder and global futurist Azeem Azhar, a “Tokens × Price” point-of-view sharply contrasted with an AI labs’ unit economics perspective: the former arguing that price-per-token is falling with increased competition and open-source models, while the latter argued there’s a genuine customer appetite driving the race to buy chips and power.
While Azhar believes hyperscalers’ cash returns on their assets prove the infrastructure is highly productive, Pedrosky believes the bubble is in front of our eyes, with massive capital detachment and distorted macroeconomics in full view.
We’d love to hear our subscribers’ thoughts on this issue, either via email or in-person at Wednesday’s RCRTech Roundtable in Dallas, TX. Also check out RCRTech’s closer look at recent AI financing deals in “Top Stories,” below, as well industry news in “What you need to know.”
Susana Schwartz
Technology Editor
RCRTech
AI Infrastructure Top Stories
AI financing news: Broadcom-OpenAI’s 10GW deal, SpaceX’s $40B hardware hunt, and Oracle’s chip-backed, asset-backed security are all indicators AI buyers want compute without absorbing the balance-sheet and ratings consequences.
Starlink’s MO – replacement or displacement?: In his Telco Diary, RCR Wireless Editor James Blackman examines how Elon Musk’s ‘connectivity’ ambitions (worth $1.6T?) are a threat or opportunity for telcos.
AI Today: What You Need to Know
How will SpaceX impact RAN?: Elon Musk estimates the addressable connectivity market is worth about $1.6 T, including $870 B for Starlink Broadband and $740 B for Starlink Mobilet. What could he offer that MNOs and terrestrial RAN doesn’t?Â
10 myths about Starlink: Will Starlink 800 MHz and 2 GHz spectrum frequency bands obsolete MNOs, or would a Starlink MVNO obsolete terrestrial operators? Here’s a Strand Consult ‘reality check’ for telecoms, investors, and regulators.
Microsoft exits Nscale deal: Microsoft canceled its agreement to lease capacity at Nscale’s planned 50 MW data center in Loughton, Essex (U.K.), which would’ve included about 23,040 Nvidia GB300 GPUs for Microsoft Azure services.Â
U.S. bans DeepSeek: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered all U.S. federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and related third-party services from their information technology systems.
CoreWeave bond yields: Issued in June with a yield of 9.675%, CoreWeave bonds declined in price, pushing their yield to approximately 15%. This could reflect changing investor sentiment about borrowing and debt-funded AI projects
RCR Events
Industry Resources
Report: NTN in motion — evolving standards, expanding services
