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IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

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Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#511
post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. 24/7 adds up faster than most realize! The idle wattage per module has shrunk from 2.5-3W down to 1-1.2 between DDR3 & DDR5. Assuming a 1.3W difference (so 10.4W for 8760 hours), a DDR3 machine with 8 sticks would increase your yearly power consumption by almost 1% (assuming avg 10,500kWh/yr household) That's only a couple dollars in most cases but the gap is only larger in every other instance. When I upg…

Wake on LAN?

Then you cannot enjoy some very useful and used home server functions like home automation or NVR.

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#512

"It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born, and IBM has been kicking themselves ever since. It is ten years later, the late '60s. Digital Equipment DEC and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing and, therefore, unimportant to their business. DEC…

Were Xerox, Dec, or Apple burning investor money by the billions of dollars?

Xerox is clearly crushing it in 2025... /s

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, okay, but you're taking the current leadership's words and claiming they are incorrect because IBM management was not great at identifying trends decades ago. Historical trend is not an indicator of the future and it's not engaging in good faith on the conversation if overspending on AI can be backed by revenue in the future. You're attacking the messenger instead of the message.

I didn't read the top level comment as dismissive or 'proving it wrong', but rather as adding context, or even being humorous somewhat

I don't understand how calling something "a ship of Theseus in corporate form" or "culture hasn't changed" etc, is not dismissive of the actual comment by the CEO on AI overspending. They dismissed the content of the message by saying IBM's culture sucks, is how i read it. Also things can be funny and dimissive at the same time, they often are.

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#514

"It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born, and IBM has been kicking themselves ever since. It is ten years later, the late '60s. Digital Equipment DEC and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing and, therefore, unimportant to their business. DEC…

> IBM has not exactly had a stellar record at identifying the future.

IBM invented/developed/introduced magnetic stripe cards, UPC Barcodes, the modern ATM, Hard drives, floppies, DRAM, SQL, the 360 Family of Mainframes, the PC, Apollo guidance computers, Deep Blue. IBM created a far share of the future we're living in.

I'm no fan of much of what IBM is doing at the moment but it could be argued that its consultancy/service orientation gives it a good view of how business is and is planning to use AI.

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#515
If AI is a highlander market, then the survivor will be able to eventually aquire all those assets on the cheap from the failing competitors that flush their debt in bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, highlander hopefuls are spending other peoples money to compete. Some of them with dreams of not just building a tech empire, but to truly own the machine that will rule the world in every aspect.

Investors are keen on backing the winner. They just do not know yet who it will be.

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#516
post #254

"It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born, and IBM has been kicking themselves ever since. It is ten years later, the late '60s. Digital Equipment DEC and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing and, therefore, unimportant to their business. DEC…

Got anything vis-a-vis the message as opposed to the messenger? I'm not sure these examples are even the gotchas you're positing them as. Xerox is a dinosaur that was last relevant at the turn of the century, and IBM is a $300bn company. And if it wasn't obvious, the Apple II never made a dent in the corporate market, while IBM and later Windows PCs did. In any case, these examples are almost half a century old and d…

> Got anything vis-a-vis the message as opposed to the messenger?

Sure: People disagree. It's not like there is anything particularly clever that IBM CEO provided here. The guy not investing in something saying it won't work is about as good as the people who do saying it will. It's simply different assumptions about the future.

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is literally the view of demis hassabis, Sergey brin, Mario amodei and others. Are you seriously implying they are trolling us?

Poverty is a social and political issue, not technological. We have more than enough resources on this planet to fix it, but we don't.

This is a actually the fallacy of communism. It can never and will never be "fixed" like that.

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#518

"It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born, and IBM has been kicking themselves ever since. It is ten years later, the late '60s. Digital Equipment DEC and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing and, therefore, unimportant to their business. DEC…

IBM is an interesting beast when it comes to business decisions. While I can't give exact details, their business intelligence and ability to predict monetary things is uncannily spot-on at times.

So, when their CEO says that this investment will not pay off, I tend to believe them, because they most probably have the knowledge, insight and data to back that claim, and they have ran the numbers.

Oh, also, please let's not forget that they dabbled in "big AI" before everyone else. Anyone remembers Deep Blue and Watson, the original chatbot backed by big data?

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this capital allocation is a once in a lifetime opportunity to crate AGI that will solve diseases and poverty.

We have 8.3 billion examples of general intelligence alive on the planet right now. Surely an artificial one in a data center, costing trillions and beholden to shareholders, will solve all society's issues!

I suggest you read Amodei post called "machines of loving grace". It will change your worldview (probably).

Re: IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off

#520

"It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born, and IBM has been kicking themselves ever since. It is ten years later, the late '60s. Digital Equipment DEC and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing and, therefore, unimportant to their business. DEC…

Were Xerox, Dec, or Apple burning investor money by the billions of dollars?

> Were Xerox, Dec, or Apple burning investor money by the billions of dollars?

Shhh. You are not allowed to ruin OpenAI’s PPU value. Can’t make the E7’s feel bad.

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