The Swyx Mixtape

[Chit Chat Stocks] swyx on the AI majors

20 snips
Dec 19, 2024
Shawn Wang, a software engineer and the pioneer of the term 'AI engineer', delves into the booming field of artificial intelligence. He discusses how AI is reshaping the startup ecosystem and public markets, detailing competitive strategies from giants like OpenAI and Google. Shawn emphasizes the significance of proprietary data and first-mover advantages in AI. He also explores the rise of AI engineers and autonomous agents, revealing their potential to transform industries and enhance productivity. A fascinating look at the future of technology!
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ANECDOTE

Swyx's Background

  • Shawn Wang's background is in finance and he built a global pricer using NLP on Bloomberg chats 13 years ago.
  • He transitioned to tech, working at AWS and several unicorn startups, and now focuses on AI.
INSIGHT

Cloud Computing Evolution

  • The core components of cloud computing remain consistent, with continued demand for serverless architecture, orchestration, storage, and bandwidth.
  • The major shift lies in the increased investment in machine learning models, particularly foundation models, marked by a significant inflection point in 2022.
INSIGHT

AI Compute Costs

  • Foundation model labs like OpenAI require massive upfront spending on compute for training, with GPT-3 costing $50-100M and GPT-4 $500M.
  • Subsequent model serving shifts the cost focus to inference, typically at a 2:3 or 3:2 ratio compared to training.
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