CoreWeave’s Brannin McBee on the future of AI infrastructure, GPU economics, & data centers | E1925
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2024
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in Startups is brought to you by…
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Todays show:
Brannin McBee joins Jason to discuss CoreWeave’s transition from cryptocurrency to AI (3:36), the energy dynamics of GPUs (14:04), innovations in data center cooling (19:28), and the future challenges and impacts of AI infrastructure on industries like search, advertising, and e-commerce (45:36).
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Timestamps:
(00:00) CoreWeave’s Brannin McBee joins Jason
(3:36) The founding story of CoreWeave and the transition from the cryptocurrency market to AI
(12:49) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at http://www.openphone.com/twist
(14:04) Energy reliance of GPUs, the future of data centers, and the cost and efficiency of GPU cloud infrastructure
(19:28) Direct-to-chip liquid cooling and other cooling solutions for GPUs
(24:52) Demand trends for GPU capacity and the growth of inference linked to user growth
(29:06) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist
(30:28) LPUs Vs. GPUs
(34:13) Dominance of Nvidia in training models, implications of open source chips and chip architecture
(39:01) Northwest Registered Agent - For just $39 plus state fees, Northwest will handle your complete business identity. Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today.
(40:00) Challenges in training large language models and the use of infrastructure as a weapon by big tech
(45:36) The potential impact of AI on search engines, advertising sector, and ecommerce
(52:46) Timeline for supply-demand balance in AI infrastructure and the operational feat of running multiple data centers
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X: https://twitter.com/branninmcbee
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branninmcbee
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
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(12:49) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at http://www.openphone.com/twist
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*Gusto pricing shown in ad is based on pricing prior to March 2025
(39:01) Northwest Registered Agent - For just $39 plus state fees, Northwest will handle your complete business identity. Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today.|
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Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | you look at the existing cloud infrastructure that was built over the last decade. |
| 0:03.7 | It was built for serializable workloads. It wasn't built for parallelizable |
| 0:08.4 | workloads. And it's like you're having to rebuild the cloud, so to say, |
| 0:11.9 | and you're having to rebuild physical infrastructure at the pace of AI software adoption. |
| 0:16.2 | It's a mind-blowing concept, right? Because AI software is being adopted at the most rapid scale of any technology that we've ever observed. I mean we're building at |
| 0:24.4 | I think it's 28 data centers this year across North America. We're one of the largest operators of this |
| 0:31.2 | infrastructure in the world. |
| 0:33.6 | And we are unable to keep up with demand. |
| 0:37.7 | And we really don't see that subsiding for years to come. |
| 0:41.8 | This week in startups is brought to you by open phone. Create |
| 0:47.1 | business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your |
| 0:50.9 | smartphone or desktop. Twist listeners can get an extra 20% off any |
| 0:56.4 | plan for your first six months at openphone.com slash twist. |
| 1:01.3 | Gusto is easy online payroll, benefits, and HR built for modern small businesses. |
| 1:09.2 | Get three months free when you run your first payroll at gusto.com slash twist and |
| 1:15.8 | Northwest registered agent. When starting your business it's important to use a |
| 1:22.1 | service that will actually help you. |
| 1:24.3 | Northwest registered agent is that service. They'll form your company fast, |
| 1:30.0 | give you the documents you need to open a business bank account, |
| 1:33.4 | and even provide you with mail scanning and a business address to keep your personal privacy intact. |
| 1:39.4 | Visit northwestregistered agent.com Twist to get a 60% discount on your next LLC. |
| 1:47.3 | All right, everybody, welcome back to this week. |
... |
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