Episode notes
Core Weave cofounder and CSO Brannin McBee joins the show to talk GPU mining and high performance computation. In this episode:
- Details on the Core Weave's latest fundraise
- Core Weave's hybrid data center model which combines Ethereum mining and generalized computation
- Transitioning from just crypto mining to the specialized compute market
- Why the hyperscale cloud providers aren't always suitable for firms with specialized computation needs
- The nature and size of Core Weave's GPU and CPU fleet
- How Core Weave services clients in VFX and rendering, machine learning, and blockchain
- Why Core Weave was able to build a generalizable computational fleet
- Why the demand for VFX/rendering-based compute is accelerating
- How film studios are going from capital intensive on-prem computation to outsourcing it to cloud providers
- How Core Weave is able to achieve a high utilization rate for their GPUs
- How Core Weave is working on open sourcing GPT-3
- Why you can't access scale compute at conventional providers
- How Core Weave is managing Ethereum's transition to Proof of Stake
- When Brannin expects the final merge to occur
- How the market for GPU mining will change over time
- How NFTs are a new source of demand for large-scale compute
- Core Weave's attitude to Ethereum development
- Did Ethereum move away from some of its original principles?
- How proof of work was a strong distributive force during the early days of Ethereum
- Are miners less positively inclined towards the network now that their business model has an expiration date?
- Brannin's attitude towards MEV today
- Brannin's thoughts on Ethereum's security model as it moves towards PoS
- Does the abundance of capital make PoS more vulnerable than PoW?
- Why diseconomies of scale for electricity procurement protected PoW networks
- Why rendering PoW 'synthetic' in PoS makes it easier to pull off an attack
- How Core Weave pursues sustainability in their operations
Sponsor notes:
- This episode supported by Public.com. Start investing with as little as $1 and get a free slice of stock up to $50 when you join Public.com today. Visit public.com/onthebrink to download the app and sign up.
- This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto.
