Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

cnbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

881–890 of 1001 posts

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#881

Post by mikewarot »

The agreement in question is quite short[1], and includes no penalties for failure to provide the required compute amount other than pro-rating things. There's nothing in this that you couldn't sign even if you had no GPUs to offer Google.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that this is like Google agreeing to buy a billion dollars of lemonade from Tim's lemonade stand, Inc, and Tim is 8 years old.

I don't see how this provides any cover to xAI/SpaceX as far as SEC rules go for getting into the top 100 stock index.

[1] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026...

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#882

Post by ACCount37 »

kennywinker wrote: post #220
ACCount37 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes: computation. Famous for annihilating water. Every bit you flip consumes an H2O molecule.

Well, how do you cool servers in space then? Evaporative cooling is the way it happens down on earth - and that shuttles h2o molecules from dense useful clumps like aquifers and rivers to a less useful form spread out in the air. But evaporating h2o isn’t an option in space afaik - since there’s a shortage of air to take up the h2o. In fact I think radiative cooling is the only actual option in space.

Radiative cooling. When something gets hot, it begins to radiate that heat away - black body radiation.

Fucking hell - do you all think ISS is cooled by hopes and prayers?

Starlink V3 sats have to dump ~20kW of pure waste heat just to exist. Going from that to the stated 100kW is an engineering task, not some sort of impossible arcane rite.

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#883

Post by kgwgk »

randerson wrote: post #749
gretch wrote: post #662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Anyone who holds bonds in this market will likely lose money. Yes, you lose money (or more precisely you lose opportunity) but you gain certainty. Which is what you want for retirement That’s pretty much the definition of risk premium.

Bonds only give you certainty to the extent that inflation remains certain. Stocks generally rise with inflation, whereas bonds continue paying out the same nominal amount, which buys you less over time. As a retiree I'm 50/45/5 in stocks/bonds/cash, having opted for a conservative portfolio. The stocks are the only reason I haven't lost buying power. But the bonds have performed so poorly that I've barely kept up wi…

You may not have heard of TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) but they give you certainty even if inflation is uncertain.

Currently you get 2.75% yield in real terms for the 30 year maturity: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US30YTIP

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#884

Post by ACCount37 »

etc-hosts wrote: post #263
ACCount37 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes: computation. Famous for annihilating water. Every bit you flip consumes an H2O molecule.

My job is mostly worrying about cooling paths, maintenance, power, heat transfer, lifetime of GPUs, and high performance networks. NVIDIA partner. I can drive to the datacenter. This stuff BARELY works here on Earth. Especially thermal issues. Looking forward to watching spacex defeat physics.

Skill issue.

Starlink V3 bus already has to dispose of ~20kW of waste heat from the electronics - because RF amps aren't that great at what they do. That's a ~2020 server rack, in SPACE.

Going from that to a 2026 server rack is engineering, not magic.

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#885

Post by zie »

jonfromsf wrote: post #850
k2enemy wrote: post #723

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bonds are no longer recommended. Current research indicates 100% equities to be the best composition leading up to, and past, retirement. Are you referring to Anarkulova et al? Might be worth mentioning that the fixed income part is replaced with international equity, not more domestic equity.

Stocks for the Long Run makes the pretty compelling case that over longer holding periods stocks are less risky than bonds.

Their definition of long run and your definition of long run are probably different.

Also, it should be noted, just because it's the optimal to have the most $'s that shouldn't be the goal. The goal should be to survive your retirement with "enough".

And it should also be mentioned, most people can't stomach holding 100% equities, for a very good reason. When the 40-60% market crash happens, people get emotional and make emotional decisions. Sure there are the lucky few that can hold out, but most can't. Are you going to be one of the few lucky ones? If you haven't yet been through it once(last one in the USA was 2008/9), how do you know for sure?

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#886

Post by KellyCriterion »

WarmWash wrote: post #733
cavemandaveman wrote: post #636

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Berkshire Hathaway doesn't pay a dividend yet the business has steadily grown more valuable

Because dividends are stupid and Berkshire is smart. Share buybacks are the optimal way to do "dividends". The only reason to do a dividend is because people like the feels of getting a cash payout.

> The only reason to do a dividend is because people like the feels of getting a cash payout.

Not really, when capital entities came up, the initial goal was to deliver return on invested capital,i.e. something "you get out of the business/back".

Or do you think back in 14th wenn Dutch East India Company was created, that you could by shares and sell them later to a higher bidder after the mission was accomplished? :-)

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#887

Post by zie »

gorgonian wrote: post #768
davedx wrote: post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start gradually converting your equity to bonds is the standard advice on that timeframe. If you're dreading equity drawdowns, that's what fixed income is for.

As others have pointed out, bonds are barely (or not) keeping up with inflation. I would like to suggest a third alternative to stock index and bonds: stable dividend stocks. They should increase in value along with inflation but still pay out a steady dividend as long as the company is strong.

Very different risk profiles.

Bonds are about steady cash flow, not about total return. "stable" dividend stocks are almost never really stable when the financial world crashes.

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#888

Post by zie »

solenoid0937 wrote: post #718
eep_social wrote: post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you said is not what the linked video says, so at best this is terrible advice piling onto terrible advice.

It is precisely what the video says. Ben has discussed this multiple times as well, not just in this video. If you have better behavioral tolerance for volatility (as in you're not the type to panic sell), total market equities will outperform and lead to less failure in retirement.

While partially true, that "If you have better behavioral tolerance for volatility" is HUGE. Most people can not do this. Once they see their net worth go from $x to $x/2 or worse, they panic sell. People are emotional beings and it's very very hard to not let your emotions dictate what's going on.

If you haven't lived through a market panic and crash(last one in the US was 2008/2009), then chances are you shouldn't count yourself as being able to do it.

Also, their 100% equity time frames are measured in many lifetimes, not in a single lifetime.

If the goal is to have the biggest $ balance, then sure 100% equities for the win, but if the goal is to survive your retirement with little worry, 100% equities is a terrible idea.

Bonds provide stable cash flow. Equities provide growth/return. Use both in the appropriate amounts for your situation.

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#889

Post by saalweachter »

dyauspitr wrote: post #239
fooqux wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds exactly like the kind of thing that will be outlawed in thirty years after tracing back the root cause of the second great depression.

Outlaw what? Prevent companies from selling goods and services to each other?

My preferred fix is "corporations can't buy stock, their own or others".

Re: Google to pay SpaceX $920M a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers

#890

Post by genxy »

dekhn wrote: post #351
Alive-in-2025 wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Demis? Democrats or something else? Elon likes money and power.

Demis Hassabis - head of Google DeepMind.

That checks out, Demis is everything that Musk wanted to be.
Post reply on HN