Your Family & Friends Have Questions About Tech & AI. We’ve Got Answers!
Our insider’s guide to Thanksgiving conversations and how to pivot away from — or into — sensationalist tech talking points
As we gather with friends and family for Thanksgiving, the prospect of having to talk about the issues of the day looms.
We don’t believe we’re going out on too much of a limb here to say there will be plenty of gatherings where Newcomer subscribers will be treated as the de facto spokespeople for the tech industry and the artificial intelligence revolution.
You are the designated explainer. The interpreter of vibes. The cousin who is expected to have answers. The questions will come rapid fire as people look to you for guidance about the world Silicon Valley has wrought. Be ready.
But many of these topics — the fragility of the AI financial bubble, the environmental impacts of data centers, the secret worldviews of the tech industry’s elites — are thorny and controversial, bound to inflame already sensitive nerves. Also, frankly, they’re bummers.
To prepare our readers for all of this we’ve put together a handy Newcomer’s Guide to Tech Industry Conversations and How Best to Pivot Off of Sensationalist Talking Points and into Important Issues. The idea here is to make sure that you can quickly answer these questions while also redirecting into areas of comfort and stability.
And remember: while everyone gets a seat at the Thanksgiving table, only you have a seat at the cap table too.
TOPIC 1: Is AI a Bubble?
Quick Response: Really good question! Lots of leaders in tech are debating this very thing, and specifically whether there’s a stock-market bubble tied to AI. You’ve heard of Sam Altman, right? He says we are indeed in a bubble. (Or, if your family hates Trump, you can say, ‘Dario Amodei has argued that we’re not in a bubble,’ and then you can tell them who Dario Amodei is). But Sam, you know, he doesn’t always mean what he says! This AI frenzy is different from the infamous dot-com bubble, for sure: most of the largest AI companies have real revenue that is growing fast. That said, the cost of running these companies is enormous and there’s no sign of the fat margins we’re accustomed to in tech.
The valuations of Nvidia and all the rest are hugely inflated (you can state this with knowing confidence). Should you sell your stock?? Hard to say!!
Quick Pivot: (After you’ve enraged everyone with your both-sides-ism on the bubble question) What you really should be caring about is the neoclouds! They’re building data centers with big clusters and many megawatts in places you’ve never heard of — and it’s all a bit complicated as to how they’re going to make money both buying and selling from Nvidia but never mind, you can get a piece on the stock exchange!
Did you know that most neoclouds began their lives as crypto mining companies? Talk about trend hopping! But don’t confuse them with hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, which are monopolies fueled by endless supplies of cash profits. The neoclouds borrow their money from the likes of Blackstone; if you want to bet that we’re not in a bubble, they’re your guys! Do you have a favorite neocloud? CoreWeave is the obvious choice, but Iren and Fluidstack are fun too.