Why Won't Erik Bernhardsson Buy All the Compute He Can?

Erik Bernhardsson will not buy up as much compute capacity as possible just because demand for intelligence looks basically infinite. He is extremely aggressive, buying capacity every day and raising money to buy more, and he is very bullish. He still will not try to corner the market.

Bought today, the capacity could not all be put to use, though a lot of it could. Selling the spare amount to somebody else looks simple until price, utilization, and the resale market drop together. He treats that lineup as a tail risk, and when it hits, things could get very bad. His first job was in 1999, and he saw the dot-com crisis and the great financial crisis. He wants a company that lasts 20, 30, or 50 more years. The Hunt Brothers tried to corner the silver market and failed spectacularly, so cornering a market can be a bad idea.

The build follows an aggressive plan that matches demand growth and the run rate he wants at the end of next year.