Episode 59: Discussing All Things AI Accelerators With Austin Lyons

The Circuit

In this conversation, Ben Bajarin, Jay Goldberg, and Austin Lyons discuss the semiconductor industry and the role of AI accelerators. They cover topics such as the future of Intel, the spectrum of AI accelerators, the dominance of Nvidia in training, the failure of accelerator startups, and the debate between general-purpose and specialized accelerators. They also explore the issue of GPU bloat and the need for alternative solutions in the accelerated computing space. The conversation explores the challenges of porting software to new architectures, the reluctance to switch from Nvidia, the potential for startups to disrupt the AI hardware market, Grok's approach to inference as a service, the need for purpose-built AI architectures, the struggle of custom chip design, and the sustainability of custom chip efforts.