The Beginning of Scarcity in AI

GPU compute capacity for AI infrastructure has become scarce, with Nvidia Blackwell rental prices rising 48% in two months and CoreWeave extending minimum contracts to three years, forcing companies to make strategic tradeoffs on AI investments. Access to state-of-the-art models is increasingly gated by relationship, capital, and willingness to pay premium prices, creating a competitive disadvantage for startups and smaller companies. This scarcity will drive forced diversification toward smaller models and on-premise deployments while procurement and cost management become critical competitive disciplines.