It is estimated that about $1 trillion will be spent on capex in the coming years, including significant investments in data centres, chips, other AI infra, and power grid. "Overbuilding things the world doesn't have use for, or is not ready for, typically ends badly," warned a Goldman Sachs report in June 2024.
Sequoia's David Cahn's rule of thumb is that companies in aggregate will need to generate about 4x in revenue (about $600 billion) versus what they spend ($150 billion) on Nvidia data centres. Currently, there isn't sight of such scale revenue.
Besides, most of this spend and commensurate revenue may accrue to big tech and the hyperscalers.
In this challenging environment, how can AI startups expect to capture, defend and grow market share? Which segment does most of the opportunity lie in - the application layer, vertical companies, foundation model providers, or something else altogether?
FutureMatters Stage
Hall 2, Singapore EXPO
