For decades, companies have turned to futures markets to manage uncertainty.
Airlines hedge fuel costs
Farmers hedge crops. Manufacturers hedge metals. Now a startup wants to bring that same financial machinery to artificial intelligence.
Silicon Data, a company that tracks pricing across cloud providers and GPU marketplaces, has partnered with CME Group to launch what could become the world’s first futures contracts tied to the computational power needed to run AI, allowing companies to hedge against fluctuations in the cost to train and run AI models. The contracts are still awaiting regulatory approval. Early signs suggest investor interest is quickly emerging.