Brannin McBee (Core Weave) on moving from GPU mining to specialized compute (EP.258)

Core Weave cofounder and CSO Brannin McBee joins the show to talk GPU mining and high performance computation. In this episode:

• Details on the Core Weave's latest fundraise
• Core Weave's hybrid data center model which combines Ethereum mining and generalized computation
• Transitioning from just crypto mining to the specialized compute market
• Why the hyperscale cloud providers aren't always suitable for firms with specialized computation needs
• The nature and size of Core Weave's GPU and CPU fleet
• How Core Weave services clients in VFX and rendering, machine learning, and blockchain
• Why Core Weave was able to build a generalizable computational fleet
• Why the demand for VFX/rendering-based compute is accelerating
• How film studios are going from capital intensive on-prem computation to outsourcing it to cloud providers
• How Core Weave is able to achieve a high utilization rate for their GPUs
• How Core Weave is working on open sourcing GPT-3
• Why you can't access scale compute at conventional providers
• How Core Weave is managing Ethereum's transition to Proof of Stake
• When Brannin expects the final merge to occur
• How the market for GPU mining will change over time
• How NFTs are a new source of demand for large-scale compute
• Core Weave's attitude to Ethereum development
• Did Ethereum move away from some of its original principles?
• How proof of work was a strong distributive force during the early days of Ethereum
• Are miners less positively inclined towards the network now that their business model has an expiration date?
• Brannin's attitude towards MEV today
• Brannin's thoughts on Ethereum's security model as it moves towards PoS
• Does the abundance of capital make PoS more vulnerable than PoW?
• Why diseconomies of scale for electricity procurement protected PoW networks
• Why rendering PoW 'synthetic' in PoS makes it easier to pull off an attack
• How Core Weave pursues sustainability in their operations

Sponsor notes:

• This episode supported by Public.com. Start investing with as little as $1 and get a free slice of stock up to $50 when you join Public.com today. Visit public.com/onthebrink to download the app and sign up.
• This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto.