GPU costs are forcing a reckoning on AI unit economics
Source: Tomasz Tunguz
GPU rental prices have more than doubled in six months, a brutal constraint on the AI business model that venture capitalists and founders have largely ignored while betting on software margins. This cost inflation will separate companies that can absorb chip expenses through scale or pricing power from those betting on venture funding to carry them through to profitability. The divide favors balance sheet depth over technical innovation. The winners won't be the best researchers; they'll be the ones who can engineer unit economics fast enough to stay ahead of the hardware cost curve.