Compute Costs

What it is

Compute costs are the financial and resource expenses of running AI systems. Training frontier models costs tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. Even inference at scale is expensive. These costs determine who can build advanced AI and influence pricing and access.

Why it matters

Compute costs shape the AI landscape. They create barriers to entry, concentrating AI development among well-resourced organisations. They also explain why AI services cost what they do and why efficiency improvements matter. Understanding compute economics helps contextualise AI development.