This CEO left Bloomberg to track GPUs. She explains why prices are 'going nuts.' (www.businessinsider.com)

Carmen Li, CEO of Silicon Data, has reported a sharp increase in GPU rental prices, driven by soaring demand for AI computing power. Recent indexes from her firm indicate that prices for both older and newer Nvidia GPUs have risen significantly, with values showing 20-22% gains in just three months. This trend reflects a persistent demand-supply imbalance in the market, where traditional price patterns—typically a decline after new chip releases—are not holding. The continuous ascent in GPU rental costs highlights how critical these components remain for AI training and inference workloads, despite their escalating prices. Li, who previously led strategic alliances at Bloomberg, established Silicon Data to track and provide transparent pricing data on GPUs. The findings reveal that hyperscaler cloud providers charge nearly three times more for GPU rentals compared to specialized providers, emphasizing the GPUs' premium pricing in the market. Importantly, expectations of depreciation have not materialized; older GPUs retain their value, with refurbished models selling for approximately 85% of their original price after a year. The ongoing high demand for AI computation capabilities profoundly impacts infrastructure investments and the overall economics of AI products, signaling a robust growth trajectory in the AI/ML landscape.