Ask HN: What if we can't make anymore GPUs?

1 pointsby general_reveal5 months ago1 comments

For whatever reason, let’s say the materials run out. Given that GPUs stop working after awhile, would we ever be able to run frontier models again?

The heart of the question is, why are we acting like AI will always be available like oxygen?

1 comments

bigyabai5 months ago

GPUs don't spontaneously break, and most will not decay in a decade of climate-controlled cold storage. People would underclock their current hardware to push out the lifespan, collect donor boards of broken GPUs that have working components, and stockpile whatever older hardware is still relevant. In theory, a scavenger-style AI economy could persist for several decades using conventional board-level repair and donor parts.