ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is changing many things about the modern world. Language is no exception. The word “compute”, for instance, used to be regarded as a verb. Today even grammar pedant(学究；卖弄学问的人)s grudgingly(勉强地；不情愿地) accept it as a noun, referring to the processing power generated by advanced chips. This new, non-verbal compute is the fuel of a technological revolution(技术革命的燃料).
人工智能正在改变现代世界的许多方面，语言也不例外。例如，“compute”一词过去被视为动词。如今，就连语法学究也勉强接受它作名词用，指先进芯片产生的处理能力。这种新的、非动词性的算力，是技术革命的燃料。
Demand for processing oomph(活力；劲头；力量) has surged, and it is in short supply(供应短缺). About $360bn was spent on AI compute last year around the world, according to Boston Consulting Group, about 50% more than on copper. By 2030 BCG expects $2.3trn(万亿（trillion的缩写）) in transactions, roughly the size of(大致相当于……的规模) the global trade in crude oil today.
对处理能力的需求激增，而供应短缺。据波士顿咨询公司数据，去年全球AI算力支出约3600亿美元，比铜的支出高出约50%。BCG预计到2030年交易额将达2.3万亿美元，大致相当于当今全球原油贸易的规模。
For all its impressive size(尽管规模可观), however, the compute market lacks sophistication(成熟度；复杂性). The “hyperscalers” (a still somewhat arcane(神秘的；晦涩难懂的) piece of IT jargon(行话；术语) for a handful of giant cloud-computing providers including Amazon, Google and Microsoft) and frontier AI labs (such as Anthropic and OpenAI) make deals for tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars of compute. But such arrangements are unavailable to thousands of smaller firms. Buyers and sellers also have few of the derivatives(衍生品；金融衍生工具) that in established markets allow them to hedge their exposures(对冲风险敞口) and speculate(投机；猜测).
然而，尽管算力市场规模可观，却缺乏成熟度。“超大规模云厂商”（一个仍略显晦涩的IT行话，指亚马逊、谷歌、微软等少数几家云计算巨头）和前沿AI实验室（如Anthropic和OpenAI）达成的算力交易动辄数百亿甚至上千亿美元。但成千上万家小公司却无法获得这样的安排。买卖双方也几乎没有衍生品——在成熟市场中，衍生品本可让他们对冲风险敞口并进行投机。
AI’s finance bros
AI的金融兄弟