A Digital Investor

  Invasion of the data centres pits Big Tech against Americans Louisa Clarence-Smith Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, frames the need to build data centres around the risk of having to choose between curing cancer and improving public education. In a blog post, the billionaire wrote: “If AI stays on the trajectory that we think it will, then amazing things will be possible. Maybe with 10 gigawatts of compute, AI can figure out how to cure cancer. Or with 10 gigawatts of compute, AI can figure out how to provide customised tutoring to every student on earth. If we are limited by compute, we’ll have to choose which one to prioritise; no one wants to make that choice, so let’s go build.” Altman reiterated his argument that “the world needs much more compute” on Monday after the ChatGPT maker announced a multibillion-dollar deal to acquire AI infrastructure from the chip designer Advanced Micro Devices. The deal came hot on the heels of Nvidia’s announcement last month that it wo...

  That’s bubblenomics, for you. Always hard to spot until everything goes pop. Look at the circular deals that Sam Altman’s OpenAI has struck with Nvidia and AMD, built on dotcom-style vendor financing, and you have to wonder if we’re not getting closer to a Mr Creosote moment — only with the blow-up caused not by a wafer-thin mint but one silicon chip too many. Sure, who really knows? One person’s ingeniously developed AI ecosystem is another’s industrial Ponzi scheme. And there are no unbiased voices in this debate, not even the chatbot at the centre of it. Ask ChatGPT if we’re now in bubble-land and it says: “These kinds of circular supplier-customer deals are a warning sign. They show that some growth may be reflexive rather than organic, and they do resemble early-bubble dynamics from past tech booms. But they don’t prove a bubble is here yet.” So, there you go — relax, folks. Not that anyone really can when you know Altman’s trained it up to say that. Still, whatever your tak...

  When Nicole Ratcliffe first sat down to work out how to pay her tax bill, she was lost. She runs two businesses — one as a sole trader and one as a limited company, which meant that her finances were “a complete mess”. “It was so complicated, and I didn’t know where to start to sort it all out. I’m in a bit of a transition with the business so it’s become a bit complex,” said Ratcliffe, 44, a freelance infant sleep consultant. “I asked an accountant how much it would cost and they said £1,000, but I only made about £7,000 last year so it would have been about 15 per cent of the money coming in. I don’t have that money to spend on an accountant.” In the end Ratcliffe turned to artificial intelligence (AI) — joining the millions who have used AI tools such as ChatGPT for help with their finances. But how can you seek tailored financial advice from a computer, and what are the risks? Ratcliffe had already asked ChatGPT about blood test results and requested advice on what she should...